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NOTHING LIKE IT: 


OR, 


STEPS TO THE KINGDOM 


LOIS WAISBROOKER, 

\ \ 

AUTHOR OF 

ALICE vale;* HELEN HARLOW* S VOW;* MAYWEED 

blossoms;* ** suffrage for %^omen;* 

ETC., ETC. 


‘^THY KINGDOM COME.’’ 





BOSTON: 

COLBY & RICH, PUBLISHERS, 

* 9 Montgomery Place. 

1875. 




Copyright, 1875, 

BY LOIS WAISBROOKER. 


Fbanklin Press: 
Stereotyped and Printed by 
Rand, Avery, & Co. 


TO THE LOVERS OF TRUTH 


EVERYWHERE, TO THOSE OF WHOM THE WORLD IS NOT 
WORTHY, AND TO THOSE FOR WHOM SUCH 
PRAY IN DEEDS THAT TELL, IS 

Ctts Worft 

DEDICATED BY THE AUTHORESS. 


FORWARD IS OUR WATCHWORD, AND TRUTH OUR PILLAR OF 
CLOUD BY DAY AND OF FIRE BY NIGHT. 



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TO THE READER. 


IND READER, — My characters are not such 
as are usually found in books ; but they are 
none the less real, — are, indeed, more real 
than are any of those in my previous works. Eben 
Rockman ” is a friend of other years, though bearing 
a different name ; still there are those who, if they 
read this book, can not fail to recognize who is in- 
tended. He was, as is stated, once a Methodist 
minister, but before his death was up to the most 
radical questions of this hour ; and we have por- 
trayed him as he would naturally have been under 
similar circumstances. 

In “ Minnie Morris ” we have combined two liv- 
ing characters, making her greater than one and less 
than the other ; and there are many facts connected 
with what I ascribe to her, enough to warrant me in 
saying that the character is not overdrawn. 

In the one spoken of as “I,” we have a living 
counterpart; a progressive mind with large caution 

5 




6 


TO THE READER, 


and small self-esteem, in which an educated con- 
science struggles with, but can not set aside, the 
truths that press themselves upon the understand- 
ing. 

Robert Crandall is no uncommon character, and 
just such a one as our present order of society would 
naturally produce under some combinations of cir- 
cumstances. 

That we have portrayed, have fairly delineated, 
some of the causes that produce the unequal condi- 
tions of society, making ignorance and degradation 
prevalent, we are quite certain ; and whenever we 
hear the prayer, ‘‘ Thy kingdom come, and thy will 
be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we tremble 
before the import of the words uttered; for we 
know that there must come such a change, such an 
overturning, ere such a prayer can be answered, 
that the mighty ones of earth may well call upon 
the rocks and mountains to hide them. 

But, no matter how new the thoughts advanced 
may be to you, we hope, dear reader, that you will 
not on that account set them aside, but will candidly 
weigh their import, taking them for what they are 
worth to you. And may the God of truth lead you 
into all truth ! L W. 


OONTE^^TS, 


CHAPTEK I. 

A Queer Character 9 

CHAPTER II. 

Love and Law 23 

CHAPTER III. 

A Thriving Young Man 41 

CHAPTER lY. 

The Other Side 62 

CHAPTER Y. 

Other Points. — A Problem . . . . ’ . . .89 


CHAPTER YI. 

A Surprise. — Further Developments 103 

CHAPTER YII. 

Changed. — Treasonable Designs 122 

CHAPTER YHI. 


Change of Base 131 

CHAPTER IX. 

Searching the Scriptures 156 


7 


8 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER X. 

Further Adventures 167 

CHAPTER XL 

A Conservator of Public Morals 186 

CHAPTER XII. 

Five of the Ten 213 

CHAPTER Xin. 

Like unto the Son of Man 238 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Minnie’s "Work 248 

CHAPTER XV. 

Love’s Conflict 261 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Keys and Fingerboards 276 

CHAPTER XVn. 

The Storm-Cloud bursts 289 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

As THE Angels in Heaven 309 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Valley of Decision 328 



NOTHma LIKE IT. 


CHAPTER I. 

A QUEER CHARACTER. 

‘ ‘ Mankind should be like rivers free : 

The less they are damned, the better.” 

ERPENTS, generation of vipers ! how 
can ye escape the damnation of hell ? ” 
I was threading my way through the 
back streets of a Christian city, and 
wondering the while that, within sight 
of so many steeples, there should be so much misery, 
so much degradation, when the above words fell 
upon my ear with so startling an emphasis that, in 
spite of my hurry, I paused to see who had spoken 
1 them. 

! Turning in the direction of the sound, I found 
! that I was not alone in my curiosity; for quite a 
I group had gathered around a tall, singular-looking 
1 man, who stood with his head thrown back, his right 
arm extended, his chest heaving with emotion, and 
his eye flashing with a fire that seemed volcanic in 
its intensity. 

9 




10 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘ Eb is raving again,” said a well-dressed but sen- 
sual-looking man standing near me. 

‘‘ Who is he ? ” I asked. 

“ Oh ! a half-crazy fellow who believes that society 
is all wrong. Rockman they call him, — Eben Rock- 
man. I do not see what he is allowed to run loose 
for. But I suppose he is harmless.” 

The last words caught the ear of the one of whom 
they were spoken, and a look passed over his face 
which I have no power to analyze, — such a mixture 
of severity, pity, and contempt, all in one ; the 
object of which cowered and shrank within himself 
as though from a flash of coming doom. This but a 
moment, however, and then he burst into a loud 
laugh with, — 

‘‘ Come, Eb, don’t annihilate a fellow.” 

A fellow, are you ? I am glad of it ; something 
less than a man., of course ; a sheep-thief, people 
used to call such when I was a boy.” 

Rockman paused till the laugh that this retort 
had produced died away, and then continued, ‘‘ No, 
I would not annihilate a fellow ; it would be too 
small a business : but, had I the power, I would kick 
this damned system of society to the hell in which it 
belongs, and to which it is going too, as fast as time 
can carry it.” 

“ What has roused you so now, Mr. Rockman ? ” 
asked a clerical-looking gentlemen who had just 
come upon the scene. 

I suppose, parson, that you would say it was the 
devil, the natural depravity within me ; but, if I 
should hold my peace, the very stones would cry out 


A QUEER CHARACTER. 


11 


against the self-righteous injustice of this Pharisaical 
world.” 

‘‘It is necessary that we be charitable to all,” 
replied the parson. 

“Charitable? yes, even at the expense of justice. 
Look there.” 

I looked in the direction indicated by his finger, 
and saw a woman of perhaps thirty years of age 
issuing from the office of a petty justice, police-court, 
or something of the kind, — a place where men sit in 
judgment on woman ; where they condemn her for 
breaking laws that she had no voice in making, and 
no control of the circumstances which pressed her 
into the breaking. 

This woman was fair to look upon, notwithstand- 
ing the despairing expression upon her features ; 
handsome she had been, was yet. There was some- 
thing of her native dignity left, for the jeer of the 
crowd was hushed into silence ere it rose to the lip, 
and all seemed to feel the splendor, the majesty even, 
of the ruin that had been wrought, and so shrank 
back, and allowed her to be led away by the burly 
policeman without sending an insult after her. 

The Rev. Mr. Small sighed and turned away. 
The well-dressed man who had called himself a 
“ fellow ” asked, “ What’s the crime ? ” and Rock- 
man replied, “ Love’s sacrifice.” 

“ Love’s sacrifice ? ” I repeated inquiringly. 

“ Yes; do you not know that it is a sin to love? 
People can hate each other with impunity ; but 
when, like an innocent child, a woman loves and 
trusts a man, then she is accursed, trodden under 
foot.” 


12 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


Please explain yourself,” said I, for there was 
something in this singular man that interested me. 

‘‘ There is nothing to explain, madam ; only she 
loved a man, or a being called by that name, and 
this is her requital. She bore him three children, or, 
rather, she bore the State three children ; for as soon 
as they are old enough the State will take them, if it 
needs them, and send them off to be shot at. But 
the man she loved has forsaken her ; and the State 
that makes laws for her without her consent refuses 
to provide for her while she is doing its work, and 
so she took what they and she needed ; and this is 
the result.” 

‘‘ But where is her husband ? ” 

“ She has no husband that the law recognizes.” 

“ No husband ! What right has she with chil- 
dren, then?” 

The right that God Almighty gave her, madam, 
— the right in virtue of her being a woman.” 

“ But ” — 

“ The law had not said she might. I know it had 
not ; but had the law any right in the matter ? ” 

‘‘We should be in a state of anarchy, if there were 
no laws to regulate society,” I found tongue to say 
at length, in spite of the piercing eye that Rockman 
fixed upon me. 

“ Oh ! come away, sister, and leave that crazy man 
to himself,” said a voice near me. 

“ Yes : go, madam, and don’t waste your time and 
strength on me,” said Rockman ; “ go, and think out 
this question : Has the law, has God or man, the right 
to deprive us of the natural use of any organ of the 
body or brain ? ” 


A QUEER CHARACTER, 


13 


And then, turning, he walked away, repeating 
loud enough for all to hear, ‘‘ God damn this thiev- 
ish, Christian nation ! ” 

I went to my bed that night earlier than usual, 
but could not sleep. My soul was full of question- 
ings ; and the voice of the singular being that I had 
met kept ringing in my ear, like the veritable curse 
of the Almighty. His closing words would have 
seemed the rankest profanity from any other lips; 
but as I remembered his tall form, his white hair, 
clear eye, and erect carriage, I could almost fancy 
that one of the ancient prophets had returned to 
earth to rebuke its sin. 

And yet what strange ideas he had advocated ? A 
woman a right to be a mother, and not a wife ? 
Horrible ! could I think of such a fate for my dar- 
ling sister just budding into womanhood ? And yet 
it might be hers ; but woe to the man who would 
dare to wrong her ! I would take his heart’s blood. 
And then my mind went back to the woman I had 
seen led away a prisoner. Where was the father of 
her children ? Who was he ? Where were the chil- 
dren ? 

It was useless. I could not sleep : so I arose, 
bathed my face, dressed, and sat by the windoV till 
daylight broke. The first sound that I heard in the 
morning was that of an early workman in the adjoin- 
ing lot, on which a house was being built. Pres- 
ently he began to sing in an undertone, raising his 
voice a little as he entered into the spirit of the 
piece ; and I caught the words, — 

2 


14 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


“ Woe to the man whose wealth proclaims 
Another man’s undoing; 

Whose palace walls so proudly rise 
On interest, rent, and ruin! ” 

“Hallo there, John! you seem to be merry this 
morning. But where did you get those words, — 

‘ On interest, rent, and ruin ’ ? ’’ 

“I do not know, Mr. Wellby. I have heard them 
somewhere, I presume, and repeated them without 
thinking.” 

“ I am glad you are not one of the discontented 
sort, J ohn ; for I should dismiss you if you were. I 
want none of your moping people about me. Why, 
where do you suppose I get the money to build this 
house ? ” 

“ Indeed I do not know, sir.” 

“ Didn’t care, so that you got the pay for your 
work, eh? Well, I guess you would be bad off if 
we moneyed men did not furnish you work. And it 
saves you the trouble of thinking too. All you have 
to do is to do your work, and take your pay for it.” 

“We ought to be very much obliged to you, Mr. 
Wellby, and very thankful for our lot, I presume,” 
was the quiet reply. 

“ Come, now, don’t be sarcastic, John, for I was 
just going to tell you where the money came from 
to build this house ; and, as work is not very brisk 
this season, perhaps you would have gone hungry 
if I had not been able to build it.” 

“ Please go on : I am listening.” 

“ Yes : well, I suppose you know that twelve years 


A QUEER CHARACTER. 


15 


ago city lots were not as high here in this part of 
the city as they are now ; and, more than that, there 
was a bankrupt sale of some half-dozen or more ; and, 
having a little ready money, I got them for a mere 
trifle.” 

‘‘ Less than their real worth, sir ? ” 

Yes ; but business is business, you know, John, 
and they had to be sold.” 

“ True : a bankrupt sale, I think you said ? ” 

I did, and a pretty mess they made of it ; got in 
debt to everybody, and then could not pay fifty cents 
on a dollar. Downright dishonesty I call that.” 

John looked up, as if he would speak, then, clos- 
ing his lips firmly, looked down again, and went on 
with his work ; but there was a sort of tremor, a ner- 
vousness in his movements, that had not been evi- 
dent before. 

I was becoming interested, and listened for the 
next word, fearing that I should lose it, or that some 
other portion of the conversation would escape me. 

‘‘ Yes,” he continued, after a moment’s silence, 
“people have no business to go so beyond their 
means. But, as those lots were to be sold, I might as 
well have them as any one else ; so I bought them, 
and in two years’ time sold two of them for twice as 
much as I paid for the whole six. That money I 
sent West, for I could get a better rate of interest 
there than here. Twelve per cent I realized, getting 
my pay once in six months, one hundred and twenty 
dollars on two thousand, twice a year. I then bor- 
rowed three thousand here at seven per cent, and 
put up a house on one of the lots. Business grew 


16 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


brisk, rents went up ; and in two years from the time 
it was completed I received four hundred dollars 
rent-money; over and above interest on the three 
thousand, and taxes on the whole purchase, or what 
there was left, — the four lots and the improvements. 

“ This, with the two hundred and forty from the 
West, was the commencement of the second house ; I 
managing to support my family, wife and one child, 
on what I could earn outside this business. In eight 
years from the time I made the purchase, I had the 
second house built and paid for without any ad- 
ditional debt. Two years more, and I had the third 
one built ; and in the last two years I have paid up 
the three thousand, and have enough left to build 
another house. 

‘‘ So much for interest and rents, and no robbery 
nor ruin about it. Those who have hired my houses 
have been glad to get them to do business in, and 
have made money out of it too ; and the man who 
hired my money was glad to get that. I have given 
employment to many a poor man who did not know 
where else to go ; and, taken as a whole, I feel that I 
have blessed the world, instead of cursing it. 

“And blessed yourself too, Mr. Wellby.” 

“ Yes ; for to-day I would not take fifty thousand 
dollars for what I paid one thousand for twelve years 
ago.” 

“ For the lots ? ” 

“For the four lots and the improvements ; it has 
all come from the six and my management.” 

“ Has the same man held the money that you sent 
W est, all these years ? ” 


A QUEER CHARACTER, 


17 


‘‘ Yes ; or, rather, his widow has for the last two 
years. But, had I not taken pains to have had it well 
secured, I should lose it now ; for, since the man’s 
death, things have gone badly with them, and there 
are other debts. He would have worked out of his 
embarrassments, had he lived. I was there just 
before he died, and talked over his plans with him ; 
but now I do not know how it will be. But I am 
secure, at all events ; for the farm and buildings at 
forced sale and half price will bring twice that sum ; 
and, as I have the first mortgage, no one else can 
get any thing till my claim is satisfied.” 

So your one thousand twelve years ago has be- 
come fifty thousand here, and the two thousand there 
beside. Mr. Wellby, you seem to be a fortunate 
man ; but I do not think I would change places with 
you.” 

You are a sensible man, John Brown, and you 
may well say that ; for no one knows the care and 
perplexity that property is, but those to whom it is 
intrusted ; and, as the Lord’s stewards, we have no 
right to set it aside.” 

‘‘Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites,” 
rang out upon the morning air ; and I turned to see 
my friend of the day before rapidly approaching. 
He paused beside of employer and employed, looked 
at each a moment, and then to Brown, “ ‘ Thpu art 
faithful over a few things, and shall yet be ruler over 
many ; ’ ” and to Wellby, “ ‘ Woe unto those who de- 
vour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long 
prayers ; ’ the Lord’s stewards indeed ; ” and, passing 
on with rapid strides, was soon lost to sight. 


18 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


Wellby and Brown looked at each other in aston- 
ishment, while the latter after a moment asked, 
‘^How did he know what you were saying? he cer- 
tainly was not near enough to hear.” 

‘‘ I do not know,” was the reply, “unless the Devil 
helps his own ; for surely, if ever any one was pos- 
sessed of the Devil, it is old Rockman.” 

“ He seems quite familiar with Scripture,” said 
Brown. 

“ Yes ; as much so as was his master when he took 
Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple.” 

“ He is harmless, I believe ? ” 

“ Yes, only so far as his tongue goes ; and, if I had 
the control of him, he would use that less. But I 
must go, or I shall lose the boat. Good-morning, 
John : I shall trust you to see that all goes right till 
my return.” And the man of money passed quickly 
down the street toward the landing, while John re- 
sumed his singing. This time his refrain was, — 

“ Whose money comes from usury, 

And brings another’s ruin.” 

I was sitting close to the window that looked out 
over the new wall that was going up ; and the sounds 
floated up to me on the still morning air as distinctly 
as though uttered in my room. But the blind was 
partly closed, so the speakers had not seen me, and 
doubtless never once suspected that they had a 
listener ; but their words were not soon forgotten. 
Indeed, the fact that I am now penning them down, 
shows that they are not likely to be forgotten. But 
the sound of the breakfast-bell aroused me from the 


A QUEER CHARACTER. 


19 


train of thought into which I had fallen ; and for the 
time it was dropped. 

The next morning, however, as I sat by the open 
window fronting the street, Eben Rockman again 
made his appearance ; he saw me, bowed, crossed 
over, and rang the bell. My sister went to the door. 

“ Say to the lady I would like to see her a few 
moments.” 

Yes, Mary, show the gentleman this way,” I 
said ; for I had heard what he asked. 

‘‘ May the blessing of the Lord rest upon his hand- 
maiden ! ” he said, bowing low as he entered. I ask 
no pardon for this intrusion,” he continued ; for I 
feel that thou art chosen to a work in the vineyard, 
that thou wilt willingly do, when thou seest the 
path plain before thee. This is a wicked and per- 
verse generation; but woman shall yet be clothed 
with the sun of power, and the moon shall be under 
her feet.” 

I looked at my strange visitor in silence, for I 
knew not what to reply. J ust then the refrain of 
the song of the workman in the adjoining lot came 
plainly, and to me it seemed plaintively, to my ear, — 

“ Whose palace walls are proudly built 
From usury that bringeth ruin.” 

Rockman listened, as if to hear more ; but whatever 
came next was lost in the noise of the hammer. 
“ Poor soul ! there is a tale to that undertone, if we 
could only learn what it is,” was the next comment. 

This opened the way for me to speak ; and I told 
him what I had heard Wellby say the day before. 


20 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


“ Two thousand dollars for ten years, at twelve per 
cent interest, twenty-four hundred dollars, — four 
hundred more than the original sum,” said Rockman 
as if to himself ; and then turning to me, he asked, 
‘‘ And, if this steward of the Lord had paid twelve 
per cent on each six months’ interest that has been 
paid back to him, how much do you suppose, 
madam, the amount would have been ? ” 

‘‘ I do not know,” I replied, “ but nearty as much 
as the original sum, I should think.” 

‘‘ True ; but, instead of paying twelve per cent, he 
has made it bring him more than that, so the matter 
stands thus : For the use of two thousand dollars ten 
years, he has received two thousand foiu* hundred 
dollars direct, and usury on that sum, through the 
tricks of trade, at even a higher than twelve per 
cent, for the time varying from nine years and six 
months, down to six months. 

But the interest on two thousand two hundred 
and ninety dollars for six months, at twelve per cent, 
is one hundred forty-five dollars, eighty cents.” 

“ Where do you get that sum for six months ? ” I 
asked. 

“ It is the amount from the two thousand at twelve 
per cent for nine years and six months ; and W ellby 
has had the use of these sums, as they have been 
paid from time to time, and, from his own statement, 
has made them turn to what he calls good account.” 

“ Yes, I see now,” I replied after a moment’s 
thought ; and Rockman continued, — 

At the end of the first six months, he received 
one hundred and twenty dollars ; we have counted 


A QUEER CHARACTER. 


21 


the interest on that for one six months in our last 
i statement ; that would give, in nine years, one hun- 
dred twenty-nine dollars, and over. But I will not go 
on bothering you with figures : you can work it out 
for yourself. According to his own statement, how- 
ever, Wellby has made that two thousand pay him 
more than twice the amount ; and now he talks of 
securing the original sum. Outrageous ! damnable ! 

, “ Yes, I know it sounds rough,” he said as if in 

reply to my thought ; “ but not half so rough as it 
! will be on that poor widow when her home is sold as 
; a sacrifice to, and she left penniless by, the wolves 
of usury.” 

‘‘ I did not reprove you, sir,” I said. 

“ Your lips did not, madam, but your eyes did. 
No, you need not regret it: it is no more than is 
; to be expected from the way we have been educated, 
i Avoid rough things, seek smooth things, be delicate, 
tender, refined ; better slide down to hell on a 
polished surface, than to climb into heaven over 
thorns and briers. ‘ Prophesy smooth things unto 
us ; ’ that is the language of the people ; but woe 
unto them that sew pillows to all armholes, that cry, 

‘ Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace ! ” 

“ You seem familiar with Scripture,” I said. 

I am, madam, and I ought to be : I was a Meth- 
odist minister for twenty years, and the power of the 
Lord went with me. I have had sinners lying in 
heaps all about me, crying, agonizing for mercy. 
The groan of anguish that told of soul travail, the 
shout of the new born — well, well, I see, I feel, I 
am in the spirit of it now ; but it is past, it is past ; 




22 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


the glory has departed, Ichabod is written upon all 
the borders of that people ; I am alone, alone.” 
Here his voice fell to a low, wailing pathos, ending in 
a gush of tears. 

He had remained standing, merely bowing as I 
requested him to be seated ; but now he sank into the 
nearest chair, and sat some minutes, as if lost in 
thought. 

“ Forgive me,” he said, at length, rising slowly to 
his feet, “ but even Jesus wept over Jerusalem.” 

Then clasping his hands, in attitude of supplica- 
tion, with eyes upraised, and head thrown back, he 
exclaimed, ‘‘ Oh, my country, my country ! Father, 
if it be possible, let the bitter cup pass from it ; ” and 
then with a Good-morning, madam,” he left the 
house, and walked rapidly away. 

His manner was so earnest, and the transition so 
quick, so entire from the tone of anguished entreaty 
to that of common politeness, that I was completely 
puzzled, and could come to no decision whatever 
concerning him. Was he crazy? If so, there was 
method in his madness. But the cares and duties of 
the next few days drove all thought of him from my 
mind ; and it was months before I met him again. 



LOVE AND LAW. 


23 



CHAPTER IL 

LOVE AND LAW. 

‘ Love divine, all loves excelling, 

Fix in me thy humble home/’ 

JOVE is the fulfilling of the law.” These 
were the words that the Rev. Arthur 
Berrian took for his text one sabbath 
morning, some three months after the 
occurrence related in the last chapter. 

I had not met Mr. Rockman since ; but somehow, 
as these words were read from the desk, the thought 
of him came to my mind, and I involuntarily looked 
around as if expecting to see him. Nor was I mis- 
taken : there he sat, three or four slips in front, and 
just far enough to the right, so that, by turning 
a little sideways, he could look me in the face. 

He was doing so when I looked up ; perhaps it 
was the magnetism of his eyes that drew mine that 
way. I was surprised, and a little annoyed, at the 
fixedness of his gaze. Its expression was that of 
questioning, as though he was trying to read some- 
thing, to solve some problem. After a few moments 
a conclusion seemed to have been reached ; and then 
he dropped his eyes, leaned forward till his head 
rested on the slip in front of him, and never once 
looked up again during service. 


24 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


But the sermon was spoiled for me. I could not 
listen to it. I do not know why, nor whither my 
mind wandered ; but I seemed in a sort of dream, 
and this continued till far into the night. True, I did 
whatever the occasion required, arose when the con- 
gregation arose, spoke to my friends when service 
was over ; but it was like a dream in a dream, and 
all done mechanically. 

About a week afterward Rockman called again. 
‘‘Well, madam, what do you think of love’s being 
the fulfilling of the law ? ” was his first salutation. 

I looked at him, but made no reply. I could not 
think why he should ask such a question. 

“ Do you not remember the text of last sabbath ? ” 
he asked. 

“ Oh ! ” said I, and that was all I could think to 
say. 

“ You heard the text, but not the sermon,” he con- 
tinued, smiling. 

“ How did you know that ? ” I asked. 

“ By your looks and manner.” 

“ By my looks and manner ! you did not once 
look at me during the sermon ! ” I exclaimed. 

“ Perhaps not ; yet I saw you, and saw, too, that 
you will one day hold this sin-cursed people to the 
logic of their own teachings.” 

“ The logic of their own teachings ? ” 

“Yes, — that ‘love is the fulfilling of the law.’ ” 

“ Who and what are you ? ” I asked in astonish- 
ment ; for his manner awed me. 

“ The Devil, some say ; those who, were He here, 
would call the master of the house Beelzebub.” 


LOVE AND LAW. 


25 


‘‘ But who do you say that you are ? ” 

‘‘ Eben Rockman, a man who has been in a trance 
with his eyes open ; and ‘ man can not hide what 
Heaven would reveal : ’ so says the poet, and so 
say I. But never mind what I am, or what I predict ; 
you remember what I said to you when we first 
met, that woman has a right to become a mother in 
virtue of her womanhood?” 

“ Yes, I remember it,” I said. 

‘‘ Well, put that with the Bible declaration, ‘ Love 
is the fulfilling of tlie law.’ But first let me ask, 
what law is referred to, human or divine ? ” 

‘‘ Divine law, of course.” 

‘‘ When the divine law is fulfilled, has the human 
a right to step in, and exact something more ? ” 

It would seem not,” I replied hesitatingly ; for I 
did not see the full bearing of his questioning, though 
I had a glimpse of it. 

Well, I will change the form of the question a 
little : have Christians a right to exact more ? ” 

‘‘ I can not see that they have, Mr. Rockman.” 

‘‘ Don’t put a handle to my name, madam. Once 
I needed the Mr. and the Rev., but I have 
grown big enough to do without either. I am sim- 
ply Eben, the son of Sarah and John. I would not 
allow the Rockman, only for the convenience of the 
people ; I do not need it. Reid, Sarah Reid, was my 
mother’s name ; and I have as good a right to be Eben 
Reid as Eben Rockman, — should, only my mother 
was a slave, and my father her master.” 

‘‘ Your mother a slave ! you have no colored blood 
in your veins ? ” 


26 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘ None, only red ; and that, I believe, is the pre- 
vailing color of healthy blood ; if you mean African 
blood, no ; but there are other slaves than those of 
African descent.” 

I have never seen any,” I said. 

“ Is not ‘ love the fulfilling of the law,’ madam ? 
and, if so, any additional bond enslaves.” 

“ But you would not have us do without law ? ” 

I would have law fulfilled; love alone can do 
this. Legal enactments cannot fulfill : they make 
void the divine law, if they have any effect what- 
ever. When in accordance with love, they are a 
useless addition ; and, when contrary to, they super- 
sede, or, as I have said, make void.” 

I must have looked the perplexity I felt ; for he 
regarded me a moment with a sort of paternal man- 
ner, and then said, Do not try to solve the prob- 
lem now, but watch and wait ; it will all come clear 
in time. ‘ Here a little, and there a little.’ When 
wilBthe people reach the stature of men and women 
in Christ Jesus ? ” 

‘‘But I do not believe in Christ Jesus in the 
sense that the church teaches,” I said. 

“ You need not believe in him at all, unless you 
choose ; believe in yourself, and you will find your 
Christ soon enough.” 

“ My Christ ? ” 

“Yes; for ‘love is the. fulfilling of the law.’ 
Christ came to fulfill the law ; and those who love 
have found their Christ. 

“ But I will mystify you no more now ; think of 
what I have said, and watch and pray ; and may the 
God of Eben bless thee ! Fare thee well.” 


LOVE AND LAW. 


27 


This last visit of Rockman had a most singular 
effect upon me, and I resolved that I would not see 
him again. , I had read of mesmerism, and witnessed 
some experiments in that direction ; and, having never 
felt such an effect from any one else, I came to the 
conclusion that it was psychology, or mesmerism, 
and, as such, to be avoided. 

So I told each member of the family separately, in 
order to impress it upon their minds in a way that 
they could not forget it, that they were not to let 
him in if he called ; deciding for myself to keep out 
of his sight if possible, and, if accidentally meeting 
him, to ignore him, and get away from his vicinity. 
This done, I resolutely set myself to the duties 
devolving upon me, determined to drive even the 
thought of him away. 

But this was not so readily done : he had opened 
a floodgate, and it was not easily closed. I saw more 
reason in his remarks, more truth in his suggestions, 
in his questionings, than I was willing to admit. 

I feared to be convinced of what was being urged 
upon me by observation, and the pertinacity of my 
own reasoning. I could not, I would not, have it 
proved to me that the profession and practice of even 
good people were entirely at variance ; in a word, 
that it was utterly impossible, under the present 
order of society, to obey even the plainest teachings 
of Scripture. 

Finally, I settled down to the conclusion, that all 
that was required of us was to do the best we could 
under the circumstances; that God was not unjust; 
that he would demand of us only what we were able 


28 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


to perform. I say I settled down to this conclusion, 
and so I did. But I could not rest upon it ; for I found 
that to be relieved of the fear of God’s, displeasure 
was not enough ; I wanted the blessing of being able 
to bless others ; I wanted the power to do, to remove 
the causes of the evils that everywhere prevailed. 
Was I presuming? Was I trying to take God’s 
work out of his hands ? At last, however, I suc- 
ceeded in smothering the voice of my own heart, in 
a measure at least. 

‘‘It is of no use,” I said ; “ I can do nothing.” 
So I determined to ignore the evils that I could not 
cure ; but Eben Rockman was my fate, my Nemesis, 
would not let me sleep. I had, as I supposed, nearly 
gained the point of indifference which I sought, when 
the voice of that disturber of my peace fell upon my 
ear with the following startling words : — 

“ Pay the price of your ignorance till you learn 
that the cause is not beyond your reach. Talk of the 
altar of sacrifice ! Talk of fires extinguished, of the 
sacrifice being made once for all in the person of 
Jesus! The altar is yet standing; it is piled high 
even at this hour, and the flame is consuming that 
which is laid thereon. And still they come ; heaps 
upon heaps slain by the Samson of human prejudice, 
of human power ; b}^ the jawbone, not of dead, but 
of living stupidity.” 

By this time he had passed beyond hearing ; or, at 
least, I could no longer understand what he was 
saying, though I still caught the sound of his voice 
as it floated out upon the air. 

I wonder, even yet, how I retained so clearly what 


LOVE AND LAW. 


29 


I did hear ; not a word lost, but all as distinct as if 
written upon my brain with a pen of fire ; but the 
sentence that impressed me most of all was, — 

“ Pay the price of your ignorance till you learn 
that the cause is not beyond your reach.” 

These words came to me with a power of convic- 
tion that I could not rid myself of. Not beyond our 
reach? not beyond our reach? Surely, causes be- 
long to God, and not to us. So I reasoned, but 
so I could not feel with those words ringing in my 
ears as they came from Eben Rockman’s lips that 
morning ; and, since then, I have searched for causes 
with a ceaseless searching. 

It must have been at least a year before I met this 
strange man again, and then under circumstances 
that I shall never forget till my dying day. I was 
passing along the outskirts of the city in search of 
the residence of an old schoolmate who had lately 
moved into the vicinity. I had her street and num- 
ber, but, not being familiar with the neighborhood, 
did not know exactly where to look. I was upon 
the point of inquiring, when a crowd just ahead of 
me attracted my attention. 

I moved quickly forward to learn what it meant ; 
when a woman started up, and attempted to move 
forward, but reeled, and caught the lamp-post for 
support. 

“Are you sick, or drunk?” asked one of the 
crowd. 

“Both,” she fairly shrieked; “sick of this false 
world, and drunk with despair.” 

Great heaven ! yes, it was — it was my little 


30 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


Rose, the pet of my schoolroom ten years before, my 
darling, blue-eyed gazelle that I had loved almost as 
if she were my own child. 

I sprang to her side. Who has done this ? I 
exclaimed, in an agony of grief. 

Rose looked up, recognized me, and fainted. I 
caught her in my arms, and rained tears over her 
upturned face. 

Let me have her,” said a voice as tender as a 
woman’s ; and Eben Rockman took her from me, took 
her in his strong arms, and, bearing her through the 
crowd, turned into a house near by, and laid her 
upon the sofa in the parlor, the door of which was 
standing open. 

I followed him ; and, as soon as he had deposited 
his unconscious burden, he turned to me with, I 
am at home here : it is all right.” 

“ Why, uncle, whom have you here ? ” said a 
pleasant-looking woman coming in from the back 
way. 

“ One who has fallen among thieves, and been 
stripped of all.” And then straightening himself to 
his full hight, Avith his eyes flashing like coals of 
fire glowing to the white heat, and his right arm 
extended, he exclaimed, “ Serpents, generation of 
vipers ! how can ye escape the damnation of hell ? ” 

“Ye priests, ye Pharisees, ye preach from your 
pulpits that love is the fulfilling of the law ; and this 
is the reward that one gets for loving.” 

“ Where am I ? ” said the poor girl, as she opened 
her eyes, and looked around with a bewildered air. 

“ Where the angels of God are watching over you, 
my poor lamb.” 


LOVE AND LAW, 


31 


‘‘ Rose, my sweet darling,” I said, laying my hand 
caressingly upon her fair head. 

“ Mr. Rockman, and my teacher that I have not 
seen for so long : what does it mean ? ” Then, as if 
something had come back to her that she had for a 
moment forgotten, she uttered a quick, gasping, 

Oh ! ” followed by such a despairing cry as I never 
wish to listen to again. 

Rockman’s frame shook with the intensity of his 
emotions. “ I must say it, or die,” said he ; and then 
he burst forth with the words I had heard him utter 
once before, “ God damn this thievish, Christian 
nation.” 

“ Don’t, Mr. Rockman ! don’t call on God to curse 
anybody: forgive them as I do,” said Rose, who 
seemed calmed and steadied through the intensity of 
his emotion. 

“ It is well for you to say that, little one ; but you 
could not have done it, had I not scattered the force 
of your agony by that very curse. I can stand it, 
and 3^ou can not ; I have been a sort of lightning-rod 
to carry off the surplus charge.” 

This reply surprised me exceedingly ; and I must 
have looked what I felt, for he said, as if in re- 
sponse, “ Never mind, madam; I will explain that to 
you another time.” 

‘‘I think I understand it,” said Rose, ‘^though I 
' never thought of it before.” 

“ Can you explain it ? ” he asked. 

‘‘ No, but I can feel it. Still,” she added, after a 
t moment’s pause, ‘‘ I can not say that I am glad of 
the relief, for it only prolongs the torture ; and, the 


32 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


sooner it is over, the better. I have lived too long 
now.” 

No, no, you must not die,” said Rockman : you 
must live, live to help find out and destroy the 
causes which lead to such results.” 

The cause is plain enough,” she answered. ‘‘ It 
is only to love and trust a man ; and the rest follows 
as certain as night follows day.” 

O little Rose ! there is strength where that bit- 
terness came from ; you are worth a dozen dead ones 
yet,” he said. 

The pleasant-spoken woman, who had addressed 
Rockman as “ uncle,” had been absent from the room 
a few moments : she now came with water and towels, 
and, handing them to him, said, ‘‘Now, you two see 
that she is well washed ; bathe her face, neck, and 
arms ; it will help to rest her ; and after a little I will 
bring her some tea and toast.” 

When this was done, and her supper eaten, 
Rockman said, “You will stay here. Miss Rose, for 
the present. I have not had a sweetheart for some 
time, and I think you will do me if you will be 
good.” 

“ Had I no worse men to deal with than you are, 
I should never be harmed,” was her reply. 

“Don’t be too sure, puss: remember that there 
was one woman so lovely that she drew an angel 
from the skies, or, rather, God himself, if the book 
is true.” 

“ Why, Mr. Rockman! ” 

“ Shocked, are you ? ” 

“ Yes : how can you compare me to her who was 
counted worthy of being the mother of Jesus? ” 


LOVE AND LAW. 


33 


“ And he was counted worthy to be her son ; I do 
not see but the honors were even; and, as to you 
and Mary, I do not know why one loving woman is 
any worse or any better than another, only as they 
differ in the degrees of their love. If they get 
defiled by loving, the defilement is an outside mat- 
ter, and not a part of them.” 

Rose looked bewildered, shocked at the reasoning 
used, and Rockman only laughed. ‘‘ Poor little 
one ! ” he said, “ somebody knocked it down, and 
trampled on it, and it is ready to die with self-abase- 
ment ; better get well, grow strong and self-respect- 
ing.” 

The unhappy, wronged girl dropped her head 
upon her hands, and wept convulsively ; and Rock- 
man quietly left the room. As soon as she could 
listen, I gave her a few kind words, and then pro- 
ceeded to the place I had started to find. 

I afterward learned poor Rose’s story, gathered 
the history of her wrongs from her own lips, and I 
must say that I had not deemed such things possible ; 
but further investigation and experience has shown 
me, not only possible., hut true. 

But to return to Mr. Rockman, or Rockman with- 
out the Mr., as we called him, both because it was 
easier, and because it suited him better : I was not 
at all pleased with his rough expressions when 
strongly excited. I felt that he had a great, warm 
heart ; but why mar the effect of his manifest good- 
ness ? and I resolved to talk with him seriously upon 
the subject. I had not long to wait, for he called 
the very next morning. 


34 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


As it happened, I answered the bell ; and his first 
words were, ‘AVell, are you going to let me come 
in?” 

‘‘Of course I am: why do you ask that?” 

“ I thought you would change your mind if I 
waited long enough,” said he as he walked past me 
to a seat. 

“ What do you mean? ” I asked. 

“You did not intend to be bothered with me any 
more, when I left your house last, madam.” 

“ Who told you that? ” 

“ God told me, — the God of Eben Rockman ; and 
he further told me to stay away till you had need of 
me ; and that time has come.” 

I could only look my astonishment ; and he con- 
tinued, — 

“You think you do not; but never mind that. 
Your spirit called me; and I have come, and am 
read}^ to ease you of some of your load by allowing 
you to criticise me.” 

“ Now, don’t go out and ask your friends to come 
and see a man who has told you all you ever did ; for 
I have only hinted at a few things that you have 
thought, and that only where those thoughts flowed 
toward me. I can do it with but now and then one, 
and you are of the number.” 

I thought of Mesmer again, and decided that -it 
were wise for me to be on my guard. 

He read my thought, and said, “ You are mis- 
taken, madam ; this comes by no will-power of 
mine ; neither do I know the law which controls it. 
I only know that it is so, and that we have a work 
to do with and for each other. 


LOVE AND LAW. 


35 


* God moves in a mysterious way, 

His wonders to perform.’ ” 

This is very singular,” I said at length. 

“ Yes ; I am one of God’s peculiar people, and 
you are another : only you have not blossomed yet.^ 
A rosebud of one color or variety does not look so 
different from that of another ; it is the blossom 
which tells the story.” 

‘‘ And do you think that I shall ever blossom out 
to swear? ” I asked, pleased that I had found a path 
to what I wished to say, at last. 

‘‘ Perhaps not : I hope not,” he replied. 

What is your reason for hoping that ? ” 

“ Because, madam, I do not wish you to have that 
kind of work to do ; would rather do a double 
amount of it myself to save you.” 

‘‘ But I can not see the necessity of its being done 
at all, sir.” 

“ I presume you can not ; and you have been puz- 
zling your brain ever since I left you yesterday, as to 
how you could convince me that I should not talk 
so. I thank you for the compliment you thus 
unwittingly give me.” 

‘‘ I can not see any eompliment in it. It seems to 
me that your language should eomport, somewhat 
more at least, with your white hairs and venerable 
appearance.” 

‘‘Appearances are deceitful, madam, but the com- 
phment comes in just here. If you did not believe 
that I intend to do right as fast as I see the right, 
you would not try to show me an error ; for you 
would know that it would be of no use.” 


36 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


I did not attempt to reply; for I was in doubt 
whether to proceed, or drop the subject. 

Yes ; go on, I wish to hear your strong reason- 
ings. It will do you good, if I get no benefit there- 
from.” 

“But, really, Mr. Rockman, can you see any pos- 
sible good in the use of such language ? ” 

“Full as much as there is in your putting a 
handle to my name ; and to me it is a necessity, con- 
sequently of great use. Air will bear but a certain 
amount of pressure ; Avhen that point is reached, 
there must be egress equal to the ingress, or there is 
an explosion. The pressure may be so great, and 
the means of escape so small, that it comes with a 
report like a pistol. This does not suit sensitive ^ 

ears ; but is it not better than an explosion ? ” ^ 

“ I should say it was an explosion, when it comes i 

with a force like that,” I replied, laughing in spite | 

of myself. ' 

“ Yes ; an explosive warning, which, if not heeded, | 
is only a precursor of complete wreck. I wish I \ 

could say smooth things ; wish I could draw the | 

elements from the overcharged mental, moral, and \ 
spiritual atmosphere as quietly as the lightning-rod ■ 
draws the electricity from the over-burdened clouds, ;; 
and conveys it to the bosom of our common mother, ^ 
earth.” 

“ But, my friend, there are principles in the phil- j 
osophy of nature which enable us to so construct 
the lightning-rod that it can do this : is there not J 
power enough in the soul, through the application J 
of spiritual principles, to make us to the moral, what 


LOVE AND LAW. 


37 


that rod is to the physical, the quiet extractors of 
evil?” 

“ Not extractors, madam, but equalizers. It is 
only the unbalanced condition which makes that 
which is of itself good, an evil.” 

“ Well, no matter about the terms, so that we get 
at the bottom of this question ; can we not become 
spiritual lightning-rods ? ” 

“ Yes ; and, were there enough such, all could go 
on smoothly ; but, where the supply is not equal to 
I the demand, there must be destruction somewhere, 

' or those in use must take on an extra charge, shock- 
ing and throwing back those in the vicinity, but, 
after all, doing less damage than if the stroke had 
come elsewhere. 

I ‘‘I tell you, madam, we are safety-valves, saviors, 

, though not recognized as such. The pressure 
i brought to bear on the wronged souls, who have no 
I voice to speak for themselves, is so great, that, but 
for such expression as is forced through lips like 
i mine, I sometimes think that the very air would take 
fire, or the stones cry out. The masses who move 
[ on in the ordinary routine of life are insulated from 
I all this ; shut out, or rather, shut in, as the occu- 
j pants of pleasant parlors are shut in from the 
winter’s blast. 

‘‘ But there are some who are caught in the 
draught when the doors are open : such get some 
idea of the strength of the tempest, and they give 
an audible shiver. So spiritually, there are tides, 
I currents, rivers, of human woe that permeate the 
1 moral atmosphere ; and there are souls who are so 


38 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


related to these currents that they express the lan- 
guage of wailing or indignation, with at least a 
tithe of the strength wdth which it comes to them ; 
they must do this, even at the risk of jarring upon 
musical ears, or chilling sensitive plants. 

“ It would be useless for me to express this to the 
multitudes ; but there is that in your nature, which 
will enable you to comprehend this in part now, and 
more fully after a while. Those who are counted as 
the prophets of the ancient time were of this class. 
They only expressed what came to them by contact 
with the inner life of humanity, poured forth in 
glowing language the unconscious and yet sensed 
possibilities that were borne upon these currents, 
gave expression in God’s name to the condemnation 
of the ignorance, the wrongs, which prevented the 
actualization of these possibilities. I tell you, the 
kingdom of heaven is within us ; we are the temples 
of the living God, but, as yet, temples with dark- 
ened windows, and muddy walls. W e do not have 
to go hence to find God ; we only need to purify the 
temple ; then the glory that is within will shine out. 
It is coming, it is coming ! ” he exclaimed sud- 
denly, while his face shone as though bathed in 
light. 

But this changed quickly to a look of intense 
suffering, while he added, But oh the agony of 
the purification ! for our God is a consuming fire.” 
And then, as if the atmosphere was becoming too 
close for him, he abruptly left the house. 

For my part, I was more than astonished; I was 
bewildered. Was this man what they called him, 
half insane? 


LOVE AND LAW. 


39 


Well, whatever he was, I would not attempt to 
convince him that he was wrong again. I would 
take my way, and he must have his without criticism 
from me ; I was not equal to the task. 

But where was this to end? What was to be 
the result of the law of sympathy which seemed to 
unite us ? Should I strive to break it, or should I 
let things take their own course ? I finally decided 
upon the latter, for I must know more of Rose ; and, 
to see her, I must meet him again, for she was still 
where he had taken her the day before. I was 
mistaken, however, in my supposition that I should 
meet him at the house of Mrs. Thorn (the lady who 
had called him uncle). He had taken himself away, 
and left Rose wholly to me. 

In answer to my inquiry concerning him, Mrs. 
Thorn said, “ I do not know ; he goes and comes as 
he pleases, and I never question him.” 

“But is he really your uncle ? or do you only call 
him that because of his years, and for acquaintance’ 
sake? ” I asked. 

“ He is my mother’s step-brother, madam, and one 
of the best men I ever knew. I am used to his 
singular ways, so they do not annoy me as they do 
strangers.” 

“ He seems a good man,” I remarked, a little 
ashamed of the curiosity which prompted my ques- 
tioning. “ How is Rose to-day ? ” 

“ Better in body, but very much depressed. I am 
glad you have come. It will do her good. You will 
find her up stairs in the front chamber. Please 
walk up, and excuse me, for I am very busy,” said 
she, opening the door, and pointing the way. 


40 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


Rose shuddered, and covered her face with her 
hands, when she saw Avho it was ; and I had con- 
siderable difficulty in getting her to talk with me at 
all. The full force of her situation was pressing 
itself upon her so keenly, that the poor girl seemed 
utterly incapable of control. 

Finally I calmed her somewhat, and so far won 
upon her as to get her to promise that she would 
go home with me, if I would come for her after 
dark. She was in such a state of mind, that I feared 
that she made this as an excuse, and would slip 
away from me when I left ; so I staid till nearly 
night, keeping her mind occupied as well as I could 
with subjects that tended to lead her thoughts away 
from herself. At last I told her that I had an 
errand to do, but would return for her soon ; and 
then, charging Mrs. Thorn to see that she did not 
leave the house till my return, I hastily secured a 
carriage, and a policeman to aid me if she attempted 
to break from me at the door, and hastened back. 

But she made no objection to going with me ; 
seemed glad that she could ride, and, as the police- 
man kept in the shade, had no suspicion of my pre- 
cautions. I had resolved to keep her with me, and I 
succeeded, even till months lengthened into years ; 
and I never once had reason to regret doing so. She 
took the place of the sister who soon left me for a 
home of her own, and was ever after as a sister to 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN. 


41 


CHAPTER III. 

A THRIVING YOUNG MAN. 

1 - 

ES, a thriving young man was Robert 
Crandall : so every one said who knew 
him, and to all appearances they told 
the truth ; but “ things that are, and 
things that seem,” often bleed in fan- 
tastic strife in this stage of existence. 

If to prosper in externals is to thrive, then Robert 
Crandall was a thriving young man. If it is to be 
cool, calculating, ambitious, and to know' how to 
adapt means to the accomplishment of self-aggran- 
dizing schemes,- then Robert Crandall was a thriving 
young man. But if more than this is required ; if 
honor, truth, veracity, soul-growth, must be taken 
into the account, — then it might be questioned as 
to whether he was what the world called him. 

“ Why did he not marry ? ” this was the question 
that mammas with daughters to sell often asked, to 
themselves at least, even if they were kept from 
expressing their query aloud lest they should be 
suspected of being interested. 

Yes, why did he not marry? Ask that blue-eyed 
little woman who stands aside from the crowd, but 
follows him with her eyes as he passes, and, when 
she secs him lift his hand to his head in a careless 




42 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


and yet peculiar manner, — ask her, as with a smile 
in her eye, she turns and ^glides quickly away. She 
will not say to you that she even knows who he is ; 
but in her soul she will be thinking, ‘‘ Some day 
they will know that he is married ; but not yet, not 
yet. Well, I can afford to wait, for he knows best ; 
but I wish the time would come.” 

That motion told her that he would be with her 
soon. And he, — he is thinking, “ How she loves 
me ! It is too bad to deceive her so ; but a man 
can not afford to sacrifice his prospects to a foolish 
marriage. And yet she is so sweet and true ! She 
believes in me as she does in God. And what a face 
and form ! How the fellows would envy me, if they 
knew ! But I must keep my secret yet a while, for 
I can not do without her : her love gives me life 
when I am tired, worn out with anxiety. If I go to 
her, my brain becomes clear, my pulse even, and I 
can see my way out of any difficulty that comes up.” 
And then, as if a thought had occurred to him 
for the first time, he adds after a moment, ‘‘ I won- 
der if all women are such helps to men.” 

But he is there now. He ascends the stairs, he 
walks in at the open door ; it is quickly shut 
behind him, and he is as quickly clasped around the 
neck by a pair of white arms. 

‘‘ How is my little wife to-night ? ” he asks, as he 
returns her warm caresses. 

“ Happy, now you are here, Edwin.” You see 
that he has not even given her his real name, that 
is, his first name. He has a cousin who somewhat 
resembles him, whose name is Edwin Crandall ; this 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN, 


43 


cousin is rather wild : ” so, if Robert’s affair should 
leak out, it would be laid to Edwin, and people 
would think it only another of his liaisons. 

When Robert Crandall first met Clara Warren, he 
was poor and disheartened. He felt dissatisfied with 
himself and with every thing about him ; but having, 
through the kindness of an uncle, been well edu- 
cated, his manners were those of a gentleman ; and, 
being what is called magnetic, readily made friends. 
His mother was from a proud family, and, failing to 
reach the mark of her ambition, stamped the feeling 
upon her son with such an intensity that success 
was the god to which he sacrificed. 

All else was swallowed up, lost, in the one desire 
to make his mark in the world ; to be looked up to, 
courted, honored. Still this man had the same 
needs as other men have ; was not sensual in any 
true sense of that term ; could not have been 
satisfied with the paid harlot’s caress; must have 
love, must have the sweet caress that comes from 
love ; but this must not be at the expense of his 
ruling passion, ambition. All the aids that he could 
secure were admissible, desirable ; but nothing must 
stand in the way. 

As I have said, he was depressed, disheartened, 
when he met Clara Warren. Her presence, her 
smile, thrilled, filled him with new life, gave him 
power to do ; and of course she must be his. He 
succeeded in taking her from her home, and making 
her believe that she was his wife ; but it was — 


44 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


“ Power assumed by one who had none, — 

Priestly robe and saintly face : 

Thus they lured the trusting maiden, 

Thus they snared her youthful feet ; 

But the soul, in unstained whiteness. 

This their plotting could not reach.’’ 

He who aided in the plot supposed that it was 
simply a joke, a frolic that neither party had any 
intention of carrying out, and thought no more 
about it. Going to sea soon after, even this possible 
witness was removed from his path. So Eobert 
Crandall had things all his own way ; and Clara, 
pure, sweet, innocent Clara, waited patiently for the 
day when he could acknowledge her before the 
world, without incurring the anger of his ‘‘rich 
uncle.” 

“ I do not care for his wealth, my bird : I had 
rather owe success to my own efforts. But I want his 
influence for a time. If that was turned against me 
now, I fear that I should fail in what I have under- 
taken.” 

And Clara listened and believed, while Robert 
planned and prospered ; she never once dreaming 
that she was contributing to his success, that her 
life forces were being worked up. in the results of his 
efforts. Oh, no ! she was only an expense to him ; 
but he loved her so much, that it was no burden for 
him to care for her, to furnish her with food and 
clothing. 

This was what she thought, and what women are 
taught to think. But this will change some time. 
As well say that the sun contributes nothing to the 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN. 


45 


B products of the earth because it neither plows, 
B sows, nor harvests. But the sun is not subject to 
H man ; if it were, he would pay for its warmth as he 
pays woman for her favors, and think it enough 
that he was taking care of that luminary, because it 
' had no executive power, could not be self-support- 

I ing. If the inhabitants of the sun were dependent 
on this earth for food and raiment, would not the 
' quickening warmth received therefrom be sufficient 
compensation without their coming here to sow and 
I reap? 

^ Woman is the sun of our social system, or should 
I be ; would be, were she not dragged from her place 
I by impious hands ; and, as such, should be as 
independent of man’s control, as is the sun of the 
, earth’s. 

But to return to Robert Crandall and Clara War- 
: ren. Robert, as we have said, prospered from the 
; [ time he met Clara. She gave her forces, her love- 
^ life to him ; he gave his to his business : conse- 
quently there came a time when she had nothing 
;• more to give, for an unreplenished fountain must 
■ some time become dry. Robert continued to visit, 

. to gather her life-forces ; till at last she closed her 
; : beautiful eyes, folded her hands upon her breast, 
f and went to her final sleep, — went thinking how 
^ kind he had been to her, and how lonely he would 
f be without her. 

You will take me home,” she said, ‘‘ and bury 
; me by my mother. And tell father and sister that 
I was really your wife.” 

! '' He promised, and intended then to do as she 


46 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


wished ; but afterward prudential reasons caused 
him to decide otherwise. 

She lay a few moments in silence after he had 
made her this promise, and then added, I am so 
glad you could be here ! I feared that the business 
which detained you would keep you till it was toe 
late ; and it would have been so sad for you to have 
come, and found that your Clara had left you! ” 

Self-forgetful to the last, thinking only of him ; 
if love is the fulfilling of the law, surely she was not 
lacking. 

To say that Robert did not mourn her loss would 
be false. He felt for a time that the light of his 
life had gone out. He missed her smile ; he missed 
her cooling hand upon his tired brain, and in every 
other way where she had been a blessing to Jilm, 
He did not once think of her in any other light, did 
not think of what she might have become in and of 
herself. It was his loss that he mourned. 

A few weeks, and he saw another face that pleased 
him, listened to another voice that charmed. But 
this time he found a more ready acquiescence. The 
girl loved him as well, was as earnest, and as inno- 
cent in her nature, as was Clara ; but her education 
had been different, and she did not sense as fully the 
necessity of the form, if the spirit of marriage was 
present. She loved William Smith (another false 
nam(^), and he loved her ; and, if he thought so, that 
was enough. The world would say that she was 
bad ; but the world judged falsely (as it generally 
does). It was Robert Cranckill who knew better : 
he ¥/as the one who was bad, for he did not intend 
to do rightk" ^ ^cr, and she did by him. 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN, 


47 


Minnie Morris had a different style of beauty from 
Clara Warren, was more sparkling, and less gentle 
in her manners ; and Robert loved to tease her occa- 
sionally, ‘‘just to see the fire flash from her eyes,” 
as he said. 

Once, when he had provoked her more than 
usual, she turned upon him with, “ William Smith, 
you will be sorry for this some day.” 

“ Why, what will you do, puss ? ” 

“ Will find out if you have lied to me.” 

“ And what then ? ” he asked. 

“ It will be time enough to decide when that time 
comes,” was her prompt response. 

“ Well, darling, you really do look dangerous. I 
guess I had better behave myself,” he continued in a 
tone of pleasant raillery ; and so there was peace for 
the time. 

Robert’s business did not prosper quite as well as 
it did while Clara lived, for he could not absorb 
Minnie as readily ; still he was remarkably success- 
ful, and on the high road to fortune. He rather 
liked her spunk. He said to his particular friend, 
Charles Reading, “ And when I tire of her, and wish 
to leave, I have only to make her angry, and the 
thing is done.” 

You see, he had changed, was becoming more and 
more the man of the world ; was learning that a new 
love was one of the necessities of a man of business. 
“ Life’s elixir,” he termed it. Still he was rather 
constant : Minnie remained with him nearly three 
years, and during that time he had added to his pos- 
sessions over six thousand dollars. Now, whose money 


48 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


was it ? The law, human law, wa^i-made law, gave 
it to him ; but the law of love, of justice, of equity, 
would have given her one-half of it. To our sorrow, 
however, we are not under the jurisdiction of these. 
Love is the fulfilling of the law ; but love’s law is not 
obeyed, or only, if at all, at a most terrible cost. 

The time came at length when Robert cared no 
longer for Minnie’s company; and, with the ready tact 
of a preconceived plan, she was provoked beyond 
endurance, and he was so offended that he refused to 
be appeased. “ He would give her a small sum to 
aid her till she could look about a little ; perhaps she 
could please herself better ; he could not put up with 
her temper any longer, and he was doing better by 
her than many would do under the circumstances, 
but he could not bear to see her go out penniless 
so he said. 

And so poor Minnie was turned away with a paltry 
sum that could last her but a few weeks at best. The 
babe that was the fruit of their union was dead ; and 
the mother, heart-broken, and depreciated in body and 
soul, was thus cast upon the market of lust to be sold 
for her keeping. 

Well, the sacrifice of the ages will be complete 
some time ; and then the refining fire” will consume 
the altar itself. 

“ But why did she not go to work? ” you will ask. 
Ah, and who would employ her ? Would that re- 
spectable lady whose lover meets her by stealth at 
night, and deals out the bread and wine to kneeling 
communicants the next sabbath morning ? Of course 
not: she can not encourage vice by taking such a 
character into her house. 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN. 


49 


Will that calm, blue-eyed beauty (if beauty can 
be soulless) who is as cold as ice, and as chaste as 
snow ? Not she, indeed ! for how can she under- 
stand the power of the creative fire that responds to 
the touch of its kindred flame ? The fact that a 
woman has yielded herself to love is proof positive 
to her of total depravity ; and such must not be shel- 
tered in her house. She, of course, is an obedient 
wife ; but her husband must not come into daily con- 
tact with such a creature. 

And thus we might go the entire round of respect- 
able holiness, with perhaps now and then a rare 
exception ; and those exceptions poor Minnie knew 
not where to find ; and so, with a soul shrinking from 
her fate, she is drawn into the whirlpool in which so 
many rare gems are ingulfed. 

But she does not yield without a struggle, and 
Eobert Crandall’s steps are watched. She is not long 
in learning that he had given her a false name ; and, 
this clew gained, she tracks him till she has learned 
the story of his connection with Clara ; then she sets 
herself to find Clara’s friends. But this was not so 
easy a task, and for a long time she was completely 
baffled. 

But the hate that comes from wronged, outraged 
love is as persevering as the fates ; and Minnie was 
no tame character. She would have been a superior 
angel ; but, cheated of this her birthright, she becomes 
a splendid devil, — devil so far as her hatred of men, 
and her arts to accomplish their ruin, were concerned ; 
but angel still to the innocent and wronged of her 
own sex. 


50 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


Many a man who had, as he supposed, his yictim 
just within his grasp, found himself suddenly and 
entirely defeated, and some one else thrown across his 
path to whom he himself became the victim. Find- 
ing that the door to an honest living was closed 
against her, she coolly looked her fate in the face, and 
made friends with the mammon of unrighteous- 
ness.” 

In this work of love and revenge, Eben Rockman 
became her friend and ally ; but she set about that 
work too late to save poor Rose, who became his next 
victim. Neither did Rockman learn aught of her 
wrongs till the day that he took her from the street 
in his arms, and bore her to a place of safety. Some- 
thing of the steps taken by Crandall to accomplish 
his object was learned from Rose herself, but more 
through Minnie and those she set upon his track. 
Crandall had a clerk in Iris business, a sort of head 
man, of whom he sometimes made a confidant : they 
were together when he first met Rose, and his first 
remark was,— 

‘‘Look there, James!” pointing in a way that 
seemed a careless, unpremeditated movement, in the 
direction from which she was coming, “ did you ever 
see her equal ? One could sip the nectar of the gods 
from those lips.” 

“ Better not let Minnie catch you at such sipping,” 
was the reply. 

“ Minnie ! Pshaw I do you suppose I am to be tied 
to her apron-strings ? no, indeed ! and she is becom- 
ing tiresome too, altogether too imperious. I had as 
soon break with her as not.” 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN. 


51 


‘‘But you are not certain of getting this one ; and 
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, you 
know.” 

“ The bird in the hand might frighten the bird out 
of the bush, and then there would be no chance of 
securing it, so I will run the risk of letting the one 
in hand go.” 

This conversation was related by James to Minnie 
afterward. “ I would have warned her,” he said, 
“ but I had no opportunity of doing so : I did not 
meet Rose again till it was too late, and he never 
spoke to me of her after that day. I think he must 
have read something in my face that warned him not 
to trust me.” 

“But why have you come to me with this now ? ” 
asked Minnie, looking at him as if she suspected that 
his motives were none of the best. 

James blushed beneath her gaze, but replied frank- 
ly, “ I always liked you. Miss Morris ; but, knowing 
that you loved Crandall, I felt that it would be use- 
less for me to say a word as long as you could hold 
him. But, now that the breach between you is 
irreparable, I hoped that you would look favorably 
upon me.” 

“ And so you thought to win my favor by telling 
me his faults ; that is honest, to say the least ; and, on 
one condition, I do not know but it may be as you 
wish,” she replied. 

“ Name the condition ! ” he exclaimed eagerly. 

“ Not quite so fast, as you may not like to agree to 
it when you hear it.” 

“ But please give me the chance of deciding with- 
out the torture of suspense. Miss Morris.” 


52 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


Miss Morris : very respectful now, sir.” 

The young man looked her in the face, but made 
no reply. He saw that she was in the mood for teas- 
ing, and so would not be hurried. Finding that he 
did not speak, she continued, “ Men stand by their 
own sex, and women turn against theirs.” 

‘‘ Quite true,” he assented, ‘‘but there are excep- 
tions to all rules.” 

“ I mean to be one exception, James, and I want 
you to be another. I intend to stand by my sex, and 
fight yours ; and I want you to work with me, to help 
me defeat such as are trying to ruin the innocent. 
If you see a wolf in sheep’s clothing on the track of 
a lamb, I want you to come and tell me, and help me 
to save them, and to throw such as are already 
branded across the track instead. Pledge this, and 
I am yours.” 

“ I will pledge it till I meet one who attracts me 
stronger than yourself, which I do not think likely to 
occur soon.” 

She laid her hand upon his arm, and lifted her eyes 
to his with a pleading gaze. “ And if she be innocent 
you will marry her? Think of it, James : is it not 
enough that society accords to you the privilege of 
taking a pure girl to your bosom as a wife, after you 
have mingled with us, but it gives us no such chance 
of getting husbands : think of this ; and think, if you 
should live to have a daughter, would you not like 
to feel, as she looked you in the face, that you had 
never wronged such ? ” 

“ I will promise,” he said, more moved than he 
liked to own. And so their strange compact was con- 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN, 


53 


eluded; she taking a house, and boarding such as 
wished, or had no other alternative than to live what 
the world calls free lives, but which is in fact the 
most terrible slavery ; and he aiding her in seeing to it 
that no unwilling victims were brought thither. But, 
as I have said, this was too late to save poor Rose. 

Robert Crandall knew that the utmost caution and 
skill were needed if he should succeed with Rose 
Barron, but this did not deter him in the least from 
the pursuit. What strange pertinacity is this which 
causes a man to pursue so unrelentingly, and then 
after possession to throw away so carelessly, so 
heartlessly ? 

I have sometimes thought it was a disease, or species 
of madness. If so, it is a madness upon which so- 
ciety looks without seeing, of which it takes no 
account ; but woe, woe to the victims who come within 
its power ! 

Slowly but surely the citadel of the heart was 
giving away to the insidious approaches that were 
being made, till at length Rose loved. She showed 
this by the light in her eye, the deepening color upon 
her cheek, and the sweet cooing cadence, that, uncon- 
sciously to herself, crept into the undertones of her 
voice. 

Crandall marked all these, and yet dared not ven- 
ture by any word or act to show his real purpose. 
But, while he was thus careful and deferential, his 
magnetism, his sphere as Swedenborg would call it, 
was permeated with intense passion ; and Rose in her 
loving had become receptive to this sphere, took it in 
as air will receive escaping gas, even till a match 


54 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


lighted in the room will set it on fire. She did not 
comprehend the nature of this feeling ; neither did 
he intend that she should. But still it was pervad- 
ing her entire being, running along her nerves with 
a strange thrill, mounting to and bewildering her 
brain. She had no power to think, to reason ; and, 
when the moment came that the besieger decided to 
storm the castle, she had no power to resist. 

And this was the being that the pharisaical ones, 
the cold and calculating ones, the false, the hypocrit- 
ical ones, together with the ignorantly innocent, and 
the untempted ones, — this was the being that these, 
all these, presumed to call fallen ! 

Great heaven ! and is this a Christian people ? does 
Christian morality presume to lift its head here ? Is 
this the Christ charity, the Christ love and tender- 
ness ? Out upon such hypocrisy ! It is condemned, 
damned, cursed, and only waits the execution of the 
sentence that has been pronounced against it. 

Do you say that I am getting to be as bad as Eock- 
man ? Perhaps : as page after page of society’s 
workings open before me, as the wrong, the outrage 
that I find so prevalent, becomes manifest, I some- 
times think that I shall become worse. 

Still I meet with good people, kind, tender-hearted 
people, everywhere. Touch the right chords, and the 
sweet music of sympathy gushes forth like the song of 
spring birds. The husband and father toils unceasing- 
ly for wife and little ones ; the mother will even give 
her own life to save her children. The sick man’s 
couch is watched the livelong night by the neighbor 
who knows that there can be no release from the 
next day’s toil. 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN, 


55 


What does it all mean ? so much goodness, so much 
evident desire to do the right, and yet so much wrong ! 
Even Robert Crandall, I have no doubt, once thought 
only of being a good boy, and was till some strong 
desire, something that he wanted so badly, came in 
conflict ; and so on, till the man forgot all but self. 

Why is it that our wants, our needs, so conflict ? 
Are we not all the victims of false conditions? 
Who will help me to solve this problem, so that if 
condemnation must fall it shall not fall amiss ? 

But let me return to the point from which I have 
wandered. I shrink from the finale, and yet it must 
be told. Crandall, as he sat beside Rose, silent, and 
seemingly abashed at the boldness of what he had 
done, was expecting a storm of tears and reproaches, 
and, as they did not come, was wondering what 
course she would take, when she laid her hand on his 
arm with, — 

Robert, we have been carried beyond ourselves, 
and there is only one course open to us.” 

The calmness with which these words were uttered 
disturbed him more than any amount of upbraiding 
would have done. “ We have been carried beyond 
ourselves : ” she had no suspicion, then, that it was 
premeditated on his part ; no condemnation, but only 
holding him to the right by taking it for granted that 
he would be but too glad to place their relations on 
a recognized basis, for he knew, without asking, that 
she referred to an immediate marriage. 

Oh, dear ! ” he sighed : ‘‘ I wish I had controlled 
myself, for it will be impossible for me to marry 
you”- 


56 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘ Impossible to marry me ! ” she exclaimed, spring- 
ing t her feet. 

Wait, will 5^ou, till I have finished what I was 
going to say,” he interrupted, in an impatient tone. 

It will be impossible for me to marry you immedi- 
ately ; of course I shall do so soon.” 

Soon, how soon ? ” 

It will be at least a month before I can bring 
things into shape to make it convenient,” was his 
reply ; this with his eyes fixed on the ground, for, 
hardened as he was, he could not look her in the face. 

Rose stood like one stunned. She had not doubted 
him till now. Her face became the hue of death, 
and her hands were like ice ; another moment, and she 
had fallen at his feet as unconscious as the dead. 
When she came to herself he was bending over her 
with a frightened look ; and, as soon as he saw that 
she could hear him he began, — 

‘‘ Rose, don’t, oh, don’t feel so ! indeed I will bring 
things about as quickly as possible.” 

He was distressed, frightened ; but, as she inter- 
preted it, not on her account, but lest she should do 
something desperate, and thus bring him into diffi- 
culty. She, however, gathered hope from his man- 
ner, and promised to trust him for a few days, a week 
at least. 

He continued to see her as usual, invented excuses 
that put marriage two weeks ahead instead of one, 
venturing, after a few days, to approach her again. 
He was repulsed so thoroughly that he saw that 
Avhile he had overcome he had not subdued her ; that 
she was so thoroughly shocked and steadied, that 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN, 


57 


there was no further hope for him only through the 
channel which she most firmly believed came th^- right 
to the relation he desired ; to wit, the legal sanction. 

No amount of argument or sophistry could move 
her in the least. This angered him, roused his worst 
feelings, and lashed them into fury ; he would not 
be thus defeated ; if he could not conquer in one 
way, he would in another. True, his heart plead, 
“ Why not marry her and be happy ? She is more to 
you than another ever can be ; you love her as you 
never have loved, and you know that you do.” 

But pride, ambition, said, No, she is poor, and, 
though very lovely, not the one to help you in your 
upward career: her stern sense of right would be 
sure to stand in the way, to defeat your plans.” 
Ambition triumphed, and he thrust his cup of life 
from his lips. But the demon in his nature was 
aroused ; he would hold her in his arms again, at all 
hazards ; so he drugged, and managed to have her 
conveyed where she could not escape him, and then, 
day by da}", and week by week, wreaked the passion, 
that, from its perversion, had become hellish, upon 
her defenseless form. 

This, till thoroughly sated ; and then he turned her 
over to another, for it would not do to let her escape 
and tell her story. And for these wrongs that were 
heaped upon her she was counted vile. 

She managed to escape at length, and, reeling from 
weakness and despair, she had fallen in the street ; 
and it was thus that we found her. And could not 
this man be brought to justice ? you ask. How ? he 
-had given her a false name also, called himself Rob- 


58 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


ert Wilson, and alwa3^s went in partial disguise when 
he visited her. His business was unknoAvn to her, as 
was his real position in society ; and how was she to 
track him out ? 

Besides, she was so broken in spirit that she had 
no courage to act ; and, shrinking as she naturally 
was, how could she go before the great world and 
declare the indignities to which she had been sub- 
jected ? For a long time we could not learn who 
was the real author of her wrongs ; but finally Rock- 
man got upon his track, and, with the aid of Minnie 
and her friend James, succeeded, at length, in iden- 
tifying him. 

After leaving Rose, he had made no more efforts in 
the direction of unlawful love. Indeed, he sickened 
at the very thought of love, made no pretensions to 
it whatever, and that which his nature demanded he 
went to the paid harlot for. He seemed to have 
overacted, and to have recoiled from the shock that 
his course had produced: business did not thrive 
with him as formerly ; and it was a question as to 
whether he could so harden himself as to go on, or 
whether he should jfield and go down. The restless 
hungering that had taken possession of him, since he 
no longer received the caress, the magnetism, of real 
love, well nigh drove him to the love of strong drink. 
Finally, however, the ruling passion, ambition, tri- 
umphed, and he took up life once more with a firm 
hand. True, his heart had turned to ashes ; but he 
urned it in a marble heart of the natural hue and 
size, and the world saw not the difference. 

His brain cleared, at least the portion of it brought>> 


A TffmVINa YOUNG MAN. 


59 


into action ; and he decided, that, to go forward to the 
goal desired, it was necessary that he should marry. 
So he began to look about for the one who could 
bring him the most wealth, family influence, and 
personal dignity : he wanted a queenly creature, one 
who could command homage as she walked by his 
side. Tall and finely formed himself, he wanted peo- 
ple to say, — 

“ What a fine-looking couple ! ” 

He soon fixed upon one that he thought would 
suit ; and now he taxed his energies as entirely to win 
her openly as he had hitherto done to win the others 
secretly ; and he succeeded, for, as you already know, 
he was a thriving man, though not quite so young as 
once ; still a young man, for he had seen only thirty 
summers. 

Lucelle Lou dan was a fitting mate for Robert 
Crandall : proud, imperious, cold, ambitious, and 
counted regal in her beauty. He told her of his 
purpose to win a high place in society, that he had 
struggled alone, had worshiped her at a distance, 
hoping to be able one day to offer her the position 
that she deserved, but that he had concluded that he 
could climb better, faster, with her by his side ; would 
she consent to aid him by becoming his honored wife ? 

Flattered by his preference, his courtly address, 
and the expression of sentiments so in accordance 
with her own, she consented to give what he asked, 
her hand ; and the preparations for the bridal com- 
menced. 

But one day a letter was handed her, that, when 
4^he had read it, she started up with flashing eye, and 
demanded of the waiter who brought it. 


60 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘ The gentleman waits in the parlor, and would 
like to see you.” She descended thither quickly, and 
found Eben Rockman in waiting. 

You ? ” she said when she saw him, surprise for 
the moment overcoming every other feeling. 

Yes, Miss Loudan, Lucelle. I have known you 
from a child ; and though, since to womanhood grown, 
you have ignored your eccentric but true friend, yet 
I could not be silent, and see you taking a step 
which, if you have any real womanhood, must make 
you wretched.” 

“ You refer, I presume, to my approaching marriage 
with Mr. Crandall,” she said, drawing herself up 
proudly ; “ and I must say that it well becomes one 
who is known to be on intimate terms with as noto- 
rious a character as is Minnie Morris, to bring such 
accusations as are contained in your letter, against 
one whose reputation is as unsullied as is that of my 
promised husband.” 

“ It was he. Miss Loudan, who made Minnie Mor- 
ris what she is.” 

‘‘ It is false, false as her own vile heart ; and this 
story is some of her concocting.” 

“ You mistake, Lucelle : I learned it first from other 
sources, and can bring proof of what I state. My 
connection with Miss Morris only relates to aiding 
her in saving young girls from just such men as Rob- 
ert Crandall, alias Edward Crandall, alias William 
Smith, alias Robert Wilson.” 

“ Aiding a keeper of a house of infamy in saving 
young girls ! really, now, do you expect me to believe 
so absurd a statement ? ” % 


A THRIVING YOUNG MAN. 


61 


Lucelle ! you dare not look me in the face, and 
tell me that you believe I would lie to you.” 

I dare to call you an insane fool, and to ask you 
to leave this house, and never enter it again.” 

“ I obey you,” he said, rising ; “ but it shall be more 
tolerable for Minnie Morris in the day of judgment 
than for you.” 

And so the marriage took place, — a mockery of 
what marriage should be ; and still it was marriage, 
for the active faculties of each were in unison, they 
both bowed at the shrine of ambition, were united in 
their purpose to rise at any and every cost to their 
higher selves, or to others. It was a union of what 
was left of two dwarfed souls. 

So Robert Crandall, the thriving young man, be- 
came the successful, the wealthy married man, and 
the world looked on and envied ; people were proud 
of him as a man and a citizen ; and his victims were 
never mentioned, never thought of, by those who 
courted his smiles. 

But there is a day coming that shall burn as an 
oven ; and the wood, hay, stubble, gold, silver, pre- 
cious stones, whatever men and women have gathered 
that can not stand its intensity, must be consumed, 
while they themselves will be saved as by fire ; and 
Heaven help Robert Crandall then ! 



62 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE OTHER SIDE. 

WISH people would ever look at the 
other side of a thing before deciding 
upon it,” said Rockman, as he walked 
into my sitting-room one morning with- 
out as much as saying, ‘‘By your leave.” 
I had long since given up the idea of shutting him 
out, or being in any way afraid of him ; and he came 
and went at his own convenience as if at home, as, 
in fact, he was when he chose to be. 

“ What now, Eben ? ” 

“ Nothing new; only I do not like one-sided argu- 
ments, though perhaps inclined to make them myself 
sometimes. I have just been hearing the song, — 

‘ The world is what we make it. ’ 

Which is all very true ; and yet it is equally true, that 
we are what the world makes us.” 

“ The world seems to have but little influence 
upon some people either way,” I replied. 

“ And yet those very ones may be more easily in- 
fluenced than others, if you touch them rightly. Do 
you remember, child, the day you gave me such a 
schooling for talking so roughly? ” 

“ Of course I do,” I replied, laughing at the rec- 
ollection. 




THE OTHER SIDE. 


63 


I presume you think you did not influence me in 
the least ; but I have either so enlarged my capacity 
that I can hold a greater amount of indignation 
without exploding, or I am really softening down ; 
now, which is it? ” 

There may be some truth in both suppositions. 
Uncle Eben ; but there is still another cause, of 
which you do not seem to have thought.” 

‘‘ And what is that ?” 

‘‘You have divided the load; Minnie and I are' 
helping you carry it.” 

“ There, you have given me the other side, und I 
understand it better now. Why, if you will believe 
it, I have chided myself for this very modification, 
have feared that I was becoming hardened.” 

“Well you need not ; for, if what I sometimes feel 
were thrown back upon you, I fear you would outdo 
even your old self in cursing conditions, to say noth- 
ing of what Minnie carries. To use your own illus- 
tration, it is like using three lightning-rods where 
formerly there was but one ; for, being in direct sym*- 
pathy with you, we aid you to carry off in deeds the 
forces that formerly had to explode in words.” 

“ Ha, ha, ha ! what a philosopher you have be- 
come ! ” he exclaimed ; “ but I have another side to 
show, as well as you. You remember Wellby, with 
his two thousand on interest, his rise of property, 
and his rent-roll, together with the good that he 
boasted of doing with his money ; to wit, giving 
poor men the chance to work so that they could live.” 

“Yes, I remember, and have often thought I should 
like to know what he was doing now, how he was 


64 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


employing men since that house was finished ; the 
one on the last of his four lots here, I mean. I do 
not know how many lots he may have bought since, 
or how many houses he may have had put up in 
some other part of the city.” 

“ Well there is another side to that question ; and 
if he could see the workings of the system which 
has made him rich, if he could see its effects on that 
other side, I hardly think that even he is selfish 
enough to boast of the good he does with the money 
thus obtained. 

‘‘ In the first place, how came he by the money 
with which he bought those lots? Was it by any 
worth or industry of his own ? Not in the least. 
His father took what was thought a worthless piece 
of ground in payment of a liquor bill ; took it because 
he could get nothing else. This piece of land be- 
came valuable in time ; not that it had changed its 
nature, not that it had become better calculated to 
produce what would support human beings ; but 
because there had been some unexpected improve- 
ments put up in the vicinity, and, by grading down 
and filling up, it would be valuable for business 
purposes. 

‘‘It was sold; and, the elder Wellby dying soon 
after, this son inherited his portion of the proceeds. 
The widow of the man who had sold the lot was 
poor ; and her children were growing up in ignor- 
ance and rags, were being fitted for paupers or 
criminals. To say nothing of the uses or abuses of 
strong drink, had the elder Wellby taken the prin- 
cipal and interest of the original debt out of the 


THE OTHER SIDE. 


65 


proceeds of the sale of what had become valuable 
through no exertion of his, and then handed the 
balance to that widow to aid her in bringing up her 
family, it would have looked a little more like justice. 
It should have belonged to her children, instead of 
his.” 

“ But how have you found all this out?” I asked : 
‘‘ are you certain of its correctness ? ” 

‘‘ I found it out because I sought for it ; and I 
know that what I have learned is a correct statement 
of facts,” he replied ; “ and I have learned, too, that 
more than one widow has contributed her mite to the 
building-up of this man’s fortune, — contributed 
through the force of circumstances which said, ‘ Your 
money, or your life.’ ” 

“ Eben Rockman, was there ever a text of Scrip- 
ture, a common saying, or any thing else, that you 
could not quote, or use to illustrate your ideas, when 
you wished ? ” I exclaimed. 

“ What now, child? ” 

Who but you would have thought to use the 
robber’s argument in that relation ?” 

“ I do not know as any one would ; but it is so 
perfectly natural, that I can not understand how a 
wayfaring man, though a fool, could fail to see the 
justice of the application. But, to go on with the 
other side that I was showing up : those six lots 
that Wellby bought with the ‘ready mone}^ ’ he 
happened to have by him belonged to a widow also ; 
and she could not keep them because she was not 
able to pay the taxes, and make the improvements 
that the city demanded.” 


66 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘ I was not aware,” I said, “ that people were 
obliged to improve their own property, or sell it.” 

Not where such improvement would not add to 
the general wealth, madam ; not where rich people 
do not need aid to become richer. We never grind 
the poor for nothing.” 

‘‘ I wish you would explain this matter^ for I can 
not understand it.” 

‘‘ And that is what I will, if you will give me 
time, little woman.” 

‘‘ All the time you need, if you will only make it 
plain : I want to see the exact workings of a system 
that seems to me like a mill where one portion of the 
people are ground, used up, for the benefit of another 
portion,” was my reply. 

And those who are thus ground prove any thing 
but the bread of life : such flesh and blood has little 
of the saving power attributed to the blood of Christ.” 

‘‘ Why should it have ? ” 

And why should it not have, if the Scriptures are 
true in the sense we have been taught to understand 
them? We are there told that the sufferings of 
Christ are fulfilled in his members. ‘ Inasmuch 
as ye have done it to the least of these my disciples, 
ye have done it unto me.’ Now, if the broken 
body and shed blood of Jesus has such saving power, 
why should not that which is ground from his mem- 
bers, that which is a part of his body, be efficacious 
also ? ” 

I get a glimmer of a sense in which it is ; but we 
shall never get to the explanation, uncle (I had 
taken to calling him that for convenience), if we keep 
on making digressions.” 


THE OTHER SIDE, 


67 


“ True, but the explanation will keep : you prom- 
ised me all the time I needed, and there is such a 
thing as digressions helping the main point. I do 
not know as I can illustrate this grinding process, 
this species of civilized, of Christian robbery, better 
than by telling you a story, ‘ a true story,’ as my boy 
used to ask for, before God took him. I had a friend 
who several years since went to a Western State, and 
bought a few acres of land on the outskirts of a thriv- 
ing village. He put up a small but comfortable 
house, and set out some three acres of ground to 
fruit, mostly of the smaller kind, together with a few 
peach, apple, and dwarf-pear trees. 

“ He was consumptive, did not expect to remain 
here many years, and wished to provide his family 
with a comfortable means of support ; and he saw in 
the growing tendency of a neighboring city a ready 
market for what he was thus cultivating. Finding 
his health failing fast, he sold all but the three acres 
thus appropriated, and used the money to put what 
was left in the best possible shape for those for whose 
future he was thus caring, his dearly loved wife and 
children. 

“ This man was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and a Christian if I ever saw one ; and 
after doing all that he could for his family, he closed 
his eyes in death, committing his wddow and father- 
less ones to God, relying upon the Scripture promise 
that they would be cared for. The village grew, and 
its limits enlarged till it became an incorporated city. 
Several wealthy members of the church of which this 
woman, whom for the sake of convenience I will call 


68 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


the Widow Brown, was a communicant, bought lots 
near her, and commenced putting up residences. 

“But these men were business men : they must go 
every day to the business part of the city, and they 
wanted a sidewalk. And still another reason why a 
sidewalk should be built was, that a new church was 
to be put up soon ; and, if they could secure its loca- 
tion in that part of the city, it would induce those 
who were of the Methodist faith, who should move 
thither to settle there, so as to be near their place 
of worship. Mr. Blank owned ten acres just beyond 
his own residence, which was at the outskirts in that 
direction ; so, if he could only get the church out 
there, he might in time make himself independently 
rich. 

“ But, to bring this all about, there must be some 
wire-pulling, some planning done. Now, it happens 
that Mr. Ledger owns land in that direction also ; so 
they put their heads together, look over the probabil- 
ities of success, and decide accordingly. There must 
be an appearance of growth in that direction. A 
stranger comes into town a few days after, and, after 
looking around a while, buys a lot of Mr. Blank (it 
is so supposed), and talks of building ; will do so right 
away, if there can only be a walk made to the busi- 
ness part 'of the place, and the street so improved 
otherwise that it will be passable at all times. 

“‘Well, I don’t know,’ says Blank reflectively: 
‘ what do you think, Mr. Ledger ? ’ 

“ Mr. Ledger wishes it could be done ; for he 
knows of two or three parties who Avould build out 
there, were it not for the badness of the street in 
muddy weather. 


THE OTHER SIDE. 


69 


“ ‘ I will tell you what we can do,’ says Blank : ‘ we 
can lay the matter before those who live out this 
way, and those who own property here and would 
come if this could be done, and see what they say 
about it. If we can get them, or a majority of them, 
to sign a petition to that effect, we will present it to 
the city fathers ; ” and perhaps we can get them to 
decree that it shall be done. Each owner will have 
to build that portion of the walk in front of his own 
lot ; but where it crosses the street, and whatever is 
done to the street itself, will have to be raised by tax. 
It will make the taxes high, and they may object to 
such a drain on the city treasury ; but the increased 
value of property, even with a lower rate of taxation, 
after another year will soon replenish that. We can 
try what can be done, anyhow. I had rather give the 
city a lot than to have it fail.’ 

‘‘ They did try, and they succeeded too ; for one or 
two of the city fathers owned property in that part 
of the city also. The next move was to get the 
church there. And this, too, was accomplished ; for 
those men who were to be benefited gave largely. 
But the hardness of that pavement bruised the feet 
or, rather, the hearts, of those fatherless ones ; and 
the shadow of that church took the roof from over 
their Imads. 

The Widow Brown must build her proportion of 
the pavement ; and she had twenty rods of ground 
fronting on the street. She must also pay her fate 
of the increased amount of taxation ; and, as the 
valuation of her place had thus been increased, this 
was no small addition to her burden. Her returns 


70 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


from fruit and garden had been even less than usual, 
and sickness in her family had laid a heavy bill of 
expense upon her, and it was impossible for her to 
build the walk ; so the city must do it, and charge 
it to the estate. 

Brother Blank visits her about this time ; and, as 
he is a member of the same church, she consults 
him. He thinks a while, and then says, ‘ Sister 
Brown, 1 am really sorry for you. It is too bad for 
you to have to give up your home upon which 
Brother Brown spent so much time and care ; but I 
do not see how it is to be avoided. I fear you will 
have to sell.’ 

‘But I do not know of any one who wishes to 
buy,’ replies the widow with a tremor in her voice 
that is almost a sob. 

“ Another silence. Brother Blank is very much 
affected himself. Finally he says, ‘Well, sister, I 
will do what I can for you. I will try to find you a 
purchaser.’ 

“Brother Blank leaves ; and Widow Brown thinks, 
‘ What a good Christian brother he is ! ’ 

“ A few weeks pass, and Brother Blank calls again. 
‘Well, sister, I have not succeeded in finding a 
purchaser yet. How are you getting along? any 
hope of being able to keep the place ? ’ 

“ He says this with a cheery voice, as though he 
really expected she was going to reply, ‘ Yes, things 
are growing brighter ; ’ and when he finds the reverse 
his faces clouds, and his tone changes to one of sym- 
pathy. After a little he says, ‘ I have about all on 
my hands I can attend to ; but, if you will give me 


THE OTHER SIDE. 


71 


time, I do not know but, to save you trouble, I will 
try and take your place, if you will let me have it at 
a reasonable price. I can pay you the interest till I 
can sell a portion of it, and, as fast as I can, will pay 
the principal.’ 

“ ‘ What can you afford to give, and how much time 
do you want ? ’ is the reply, speaking cheerfully of 
what but a short time before she could scarcely bear 
to think; for the prospect of having the pressure 
removed for the moment makes her forget the 
bitterness. 

‘‘ Again Brother Blank thinks a while, and finally 
says, ‘I think I might pay you half of it in two 
years, and the balance at the end of four ; and I will 
give you ’ — so much ; naming a sum that was about 
what the property was worth taken at the old valua- 
tion, but much less than it could have been sold for 
with the improvements that were being made in that 
neighborhood ; and remember that it was because her 
place had been made to contribute to those improve- 
ments that she was obliged to sell. 

‘‘ ‘ If you can pay me something in advance, say 
two hundred dollars, I will do so,’ is her reply ; and 
so the bargain is completed. Brother Blank thinking 
that he has done the fair thing by the widow. ‘ It 
will be better for her,’ he says to himself, ‘ to leave 
the city, and go into some smaller place ; and now I 
will have a good residence put up in the place of that 
little house, which really spoils the looks of the 
street.’ 

Brother Blank put up the new house ; and in six 
months sold half the ground for more than he was to 


72 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


pay for the whole, retaining to himself the half on 
which the new house was built. So you see, that, 
with a little management, he got half of Widow 
Brown’s place for nothing. He could have paid her 
up then, thus giving her a chance to have invested 
her money in something that would have increased 
in value, while values were on the increase ; but so 
said not the bond, and she was forced to plan and 
contrive to eke out her scanty income the best way 
she could.” 

I had listened Avithout interrupting Mr. Rockman, 
for I wished to retain every point in the story ; but 
now I asked, Hoav did you learn all this, so as to 
relate the particulars so minutely?” 

“ I have preached in that church,” was the reply : 
my sister’s child is Brother Blank’s wife. I have 
been behind the scenes. I know how much religion 
there is in church building, and in business men who 
furnish the money, and hold the best pews. We are 
a thievish Christian nation : we devour Avidows’ 
houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. The 
condemnation of justice, of a just God, rests upon us, 
and it ought to. There ! does that manner of express- 
ing it suit you any better than the other ? ” 

‘‘ Some better, I think,” I said. 

‘‘ And yet, little woman, it is a tame, stereotyped 
form of speech, that will make about as much im- 
pression as a pancake would on a rock.” 

I laughed outright at the originality of his com- 
parison. “ Laugh if you Avish,” he continued, ‘‘ but 
it is true. ‘ The agitation of thought ’ is far more 
likely to prove ‘the beginning of wisdom’ than a 


THE OTHER SIDE, 


73 


blind ‘ fear of the Lord.’ One of the draymen on the 
street, or an angry ditcher, might swear to his heart’s 
content, and no one pays any particular attention, for 
there is nothing in particular meant ; but let Eben 
Rockman call for God’s curse upon a nation’s sins, 
and what a shock it creates ! the mental atmosphere 
is stirred all about him ; and why ? 

‘‘ Simply because he means something. There is 
intent, purpose, force, intelligence, behind it. It is a 
breath from the flame of God Almighty’s indigna- 
tion.” 

‘"I gave up contending with you on that point 
long since, uncle, and have nothing to say now, only, 
do your own work your own way, as you will, no 
matter what I might say ; but I should like to know 
what became of Widow Brown and her children.” 

“Ah, you would? Well, you have seen one of 
them in the carpenter who sang 

‘Woe to the man whose wealth proclaims 
Another man’s undoing ! ’ ” 

“ What, John Brown ! ” I exclaimed. “ I thought 
you called the woman Brown just for convenience. 
I did not suppose it was her real name.” 

“ And why should it not be as convenient for me to 
call one by their right name as by any other, I should 
like to know ? Besides, a genuine surprise is a good, 
healthy mental shock. You are quite a philosopher, 
madam, but you have not learned it all yet.” 

“ Are Blank and Ledger real names too ? ” 

“ Certainly they are real names ; but they did not 
exactly belong to the men I designated by their 
use.” 


74 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘ Your pun is lost, uncle, for I am not annoyed in 
the least, not even a slight mental shock. Did you 
learn what became of the rest of the family ? 
— Browns, I mean, not Blanks or Ledgers.” 

“ I did,” he replied, but said nothing further. I 
waited a little, and then added, — 

AVill you tell me, please ? ” 

I did not learn it all from John, but enough so 
that I could trace out the rest. Mrs. Brown caught 
a heavy cold consequent on the overwork and anxiety 
caused by moving; and this held her, in spite of 
remedies, till it became a settled cough, ending in 
the same disease of which her husband died, — a 
lingering consumption, — which finally took her 
hence. George, the eldest, became reckless through 
strong drink and evil companions, into whose com- 
pany he was thrown by the change ; and, of the 
three girls, two of them, so I have learned from 
Minnie, are in a house of prostitution. Mary, the 
second girl, is married ; but they are very poor, her 
husband not being able to work near all the time ; 
and John you have seen.” 

“A sad conclusion, but are we sure that it would 
have been better had they remained where they were ? 
All that you have named might have occurred, even 
then,” I said, not willing to look upon their misfor- 
tunes as the legitimate outgrowth of the prosperity 
of others. 

‘‘Perhaps,” he replied; “but Brown does not 
think so ; and suppose that Blank had acted the part 
of a brother to ‘Sister Brown,’— suppose he had 
paid what was laid Upon her in consequence of his 


THE OTHER SIDE. 


75 


efforts to add to the value of his own property. 
Had he done this, instead of paying that extra hun- 
dred toward building the church, she could have got 
along for a while ; and then, as the value of the 
property increased, he could have aided her in selling 
a portion of it, and have helped her to put the pro- 
ceeds to such use as would have enabled her to have 
educated her children, and still retained a home. 
Do you not believe that the genial influence of such 
a course would have saved that family to have be- 
come a blessing to the community ? 

“ But he had the power to do otherwise, and so 
he did it ; and that is just what he ought to have 
been deprived of. No government is a just one that 
permits one man or class of men to grow rich upon 
the necessities of another man or class of men. If 
we had city mothers, as well as city fathers, I opine 
that the poor would not be hedged around us as they 
are now. In a case like that of Widow Brown’s, the 
power that decreed those improvements should have 
seen to it that she sustained no loss thereby. City 
fathers, indeed ! such fathers ought to be accursed.” 

‘‘ But I cannot see the necessity,” I said, “ for 
those girls becoming prostitutes because they were 
poor : there is certainly work enough to be done to 
give one an honest support in a country like this. I 
know of any number of ladies who would count a 
quiet, steady American girl a treasure ; for they are 
so annoyed with ignorant, inefflcient help they hardly 
know what to do at times.” 

“ They have no business to be ladies : let them be 
women, — true, whole-souled, helpful women ; and 


76 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


then quiet, well-educated girls who chanced to be 
poor would not shrink from taking a part of their 
burdens ; but, as it is now, it is about the worst 
place that an intelligent girl can be put. They can 
have no society, unless they accept that of the 
coarse and ignorant who occupj^ the same sphere 
that they do, — that of servants. If they can not do 
this, then they are subject to all the annoyance that 
ignorance and jealousy can inflict, this becoming 
especially bitter if there chance to be one or more 
of this class in the same house. 

“ The poor girl has no society, no sympathy, and 
she is human. She is lovely, intelligent, reflned ; 
often more so than the one who occupies the place 
of mistress. The husband or sons can not fail to see 
this, and speak kindly to her if at all ; relieve her 
of some burden, do her some favor, and in so re- 
spectful a manner that she can no more put them 
aside, than one famishing of thirst can dash a cup 
of cold water to the ground. And step by step the 
bonds of sympathy draw them toward each other; 
no thought of evil on her part ; on his, perhaps, and 
perhaps not, oftener not: till, finally, they are borne ‘ 
beyond the point of safety ; to one, at least. 

“ O God ! how I wish I could show up these 
things as I see them ! Our system of society makes 
men what they are, makes women what they are ; 
and then we curse them, despise and curse ourselves. 
Well does Scripture sa}^, ^ The creature was made 
subject to vanity, not willingly.^ We do not do as 
we do willingly ; we are urged on by an invisible 
force, fate, devil, or whatever else you may choose 


THE OTHER SIDE, 


77 


to call it. In cases like these to which I have re- 
ferred, the woman tempts the man.” 

Tempts the man ! do you know what you are 
saying, Mr. Rockman ? ” 

‘‘ Mr, Rockman knows what he is saying perfectly 
well. Does the parched, the thirsty earth tempt the 
falling rain ? does a vacuum tempt a fullness ? I do 
not say that there is an intelligent effort to tempt 
the man ; far from it : but her loneliness, her heart- 
hunger, goes out in her magnetic sphere, and reaches 
toward him as the plant turns from darkness toward 
the sunlight. Oh this accursed spirit of caste, this 
devil of the pride of position ! Wealth sets a fool 
on high : the want of it drags an angel down to the 
ditch.” 

All that you say is true,” I answered, ‘‘ but 
where is the remedy ? We must find and apply that, 
or make the best of things as they are. There is not 
much use in running into a hedge, if the only re- 
sult is to scratch ourselves.” 

Of course not : it is easier to push others on.” 

‘‘ But why need Ave do that? ” I asked. 

‘‘ If there is not room enough for all, how is it to 
be helped. In the very efforts we make to keep off, 
we push others on, and we can not avoid it.” 

‘‘ What can we do, then, uncle ? tell me that.” 

Tear doAvn the hedge ; burn it up ; dig it out by 
the roots ; any way to get rid of it. But that will 
never be done till people learn to look on both sides 
of a thing. They think now that the Devil is just 
the other side of the hedge, think the hedge is the 
only thing tha.t keeps his satanic majesty from hav- 


78 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


ing full sway among the human family. That crown 
of thorns, it can’t be spared ; some one must wear 
it to save the rest. 

If they would only look a little closer, — would 
look on the other side, — they would find an angel 
instead ; would become so charmed, that the hedge 
could not hold them back : they would break through 
it, jump over, or crawl under. Those who cared 
only for themselves would do one of the latter ; but 
those whose hearts burned with love for humanity 
would bare their breasts to the thorns, and, pressing 
forward, carry the hedge with them, that they might 
make a breach through which others could follow. 
And that is what the martyr heroes, the Christs of 
the ages, have been doing.” 

After this outburst, we sat for some time in 
silence. Finally he commenced again with, ‘‘ Man- 
kind love the good, love to think they are doing 
good : some where, in some shape, you will be sure to 
find this desire manifest, if you will watch for it ; if 
they only knew how, they would love to make every- 
body happy. Well by enjoj^s the thought that he is 
doing good with his money ; but if he could only 
comprehend the workings of the system which 
makes him rich at the expense of others” — 

And that reminds me,” I interrupted, “ that you 
have only given a portion of the other side to that 
matter.” 

Yes ; have only told you how he came by his 
money : the results of its use are yet to be given. 
Well, we will look at the other side there, now. We 
have already seen that he bought six city lots at a 


THE OTHER SIDE, 


79 


low price, and sold two of them, two years afterward, 
for twice the sum that he paid for the whole six. 
Now, what was the cause of this increase in value ? 
Improvements made in that vicinity ; an increase of 
business facilities. But did he do any thing toward 
increasing that business ? did he make any of those 
improvements ? 

“ Neither the one nor the other ; and a large propor- 
tion were made at the city’s expense. Of this he paid 
his proportion in tax ; but the increase in value, to 
the tax he paid, is as a thousand to one. Conse- 
quently that widow who owned a little home, and 
paid one-tenth as much of that tax as he did, did 
one-tenth as much as he did toward that thousand 
increase, and, when he sold those lots at such an 
advance, had just as good a right to her proportion 
of the increase as he had to the whole.” 

“ Was not her property increased in value, as well 
as his, uncle ? ” 

‘‘ Yes, so far as the lot was concerned ; but the 
house was cheapened, made valueless, for it had be- 
come out of place with its surroundings ; and, if she 
sold, it would be to some one who could and would 
put up another house, moving that back for a stable, 
or tearing it down : consequently she would be 
likely to get only what the bare lot was worth, thus, 
as I have said, making her house valueless. 

‘‘ Neither would it be worth as much to her for a 
home ; because, her income not increasing, and her 
taxes becoming higher on account of increased valu- 
ation, she would find it more difficult to support her- 
self and children than before. So of that laboring 


80 


NOTHING LIKE IT: 


man on the opposite corner. His garden will yield 
no more than before ; neither will his House hold any 
more people. He gets no more for his work ; but he, 
too, must pay higher taxes on account of increased 
valuation. But Wellby, or another who held vacant 
lots, could sell them, and put the money at interest, 
while every dollar thus obtaii^ed goes where he can 
make it pay him, where it will coin other dollars to 
gain still others, and so on. 

“ You see that property is valued according to 
what use the rich can make of it, and not by what 
the poor need, or can do ; and the result is, that the 
poor are forced by their necessities to aid in making 
the rich richer, while they themselves are driven 
into the highways and by waySr 

John Brown is not able rto own a house of his 
own, and so he hires one of Jerome Smith ; but Mr. 
Smith has plenty of money, and he sees, that, by put- 
ting up a block of new buildings, he can bring more 
business into the neighborhood, and increase the 
value of his property. He does not mind the in- 
crease of the taxes, because he has the power to 
make others pay them. How? do you ask? I will 
tell you. He hires Brown to put up these buildings ; 
and when they are done he says, ^ Mr. Brpwn, I shall 
be obliged to raise your rent, for there is a demand 
for house-room ; and, besides, property has increased 
in valuation, and my taxes will be higher. I must 
make the place pay interest and taxes.’ 

So he computes thus : ‘ The property is worth a 
cool thousand more than it was ; ’ and then he adds 
the probable increase of taxes to the interest on a 


THE OTHER SIDE. 


81 


thousand, p its it into Brown’s rent ; and he must pay 
it, or move elsewhere. John Brown’s work has in- 
creased the valuation of the house over his own head ; 
and John Brown must pay the bill, or go into less 
respectable quarters. Oh ! it is a splendid grinding- 
machine, the present structure of society; and the 
poor must not only turn the crank, but hold their 
own noses to the grindstone. 

“And yet Smith, Wellby, and others think they 
are doing good with thv.:r money, because they fur- 
nish poor people employment. Suppose I am hun- 
gry, and see what will bring me bread, but am not 
able to reach it. Well, here comes along another 
hungry man, and I see that he can do what will 
bring me that bread : oO I say to him, ‘ I have some 
bread out yonder, which, if you will bring me, I will 
give you some of it.’ iVow, the bread does not belong 
to me, any more than it does to him : only I claim it 
by right of discovery. But he goes and gets it, and 
of three loaves I give him half a loaf ; and I boast of 
the good I have done by giving that man work, and 
keeping him from starving. 

“ Starving, indeed ! did he not keep me from starv- 
ing ? He knew not where to get bread, and I showed 
him. I had not the strength to get it, and he got it 
for me. We should both have starved without my 
knowledge, and we should have both starved without 
his strength ; why, then, do I presume to deal out 
his share, making it only one-fifth as large as mine ? 
An equal division would have been justice.” 

“ This is Christianity, is it ? this is the brother- 
hood that Jesus taught? Not much ! 


82 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


Now, to show the other side of the workings of 
this system which puts money into one man’s pocket, 
so that he can employ others and keep them from 
starving, — to show up this system more fully, let us 
take W ellby’s case again ; and perhaps we may learn 
whether it is he, or some one else, that does this. 

“ If I remember rightly, it was two thousand dollars 
that he sent West to draw twelve per cent interest. 
Men of money, men of speculative powers, could use 
money, and make it bring them as great a return as 
this, or more ; and so fathers of the State, or ‘ State 
fathers,’ made that rate legal. No ‘ State mothers,’ 
to care for the little ones^ the poor. 

‘‘Well, ‘little ones’ try to do as the big ones do. 
There is a man who has a piece of land that he is 
told, and he believes, that it will become very valua- 
ble if he can put certain improvements upon it. He 
has a growing family, and he would like to shape 
things so that they may have something to begin life 
with ; so he is persuaded to borrow two thousand, 
and make the desired changes, or additions. His 
eighty acres of land, for which he paid one hundred 
dollars, is not worth half enough to secure this sum 
on mortgage, not even with the five years’ labor 
that he has put upon it ; but he is so bound to use 
the money on the premises, that his farm is the for- 
feit if he does not, and the men of money are safe.” 

“ They look out for the safety of the dollar, I per- 
ceive,” said I. 

“ Oh, yes ! it is the nest-egg, upon which they 
manage to set the geese that lay them golden ones ; 
poor geese ! and they get plucked of their feathers in 


THE OTHER SIDE. 


83 


tlie end, to pay for the privilege. I am showing up 
the Avorkings of a civilization that calls itself ‘ Chris- 
tian,’ remember.” 

‘‘I shall not be very likely to forget it,” I re- 
plied, as some of my own bitter experiences flashed 
across my mind ; and he continued, — 

‘‘ But you see there is an agent in the case, and he 
must live. He charges from two to five per cent for 
doing the business, and that must be taken from the 
two thousand; then there is the expense of the 
mortgage, putting it on record, &c.; so, by the 
time the man gets the money, it is considerably 
less than two thousand ; but that is the sum upon 
which he must pay interest. The lender gets the 
benefit, and the borrower pays the bills. 

Now, when the improvements are made for which 
what is left of the two thousand pays, the man has 
put considerably more than that sum into them, for 
his time, labor, &ic., have gone in also ; and he gets 
what ? A business that will pay him just about as 
much more than he could earn before as to enable 
him to pay the two hundred and forty dollars 
interest, and perhaps the additional tax that the 
increased valuation of his property brings. Perhaps, 
and perhaps not ; all he gets, then, in return for all 
this trouble and care, is the satisfaction of being 
counted a wealthy man.” 

“ A goose indeed ! ” was my audible thought. 

‘‘ The Avorld is full of them, child ; but I have not 
done with the results of the two thousand yet, as 
seen from the other side than that which puts money 
into Wellby’s pocket, and enables him to do good. 


84 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


Every acre of land, within a mile each way from 
where these Improvements have been made, is counted 
as worth at least a dollar more, more likely from 
two to five more ; and within a few weeks an Eastern 
capitalist sells a piece of land in that vicinity for 
three thousand dollars, for which, eighteen months 
before, he paid only one thousand.” 

“ The two thousand has gone back to Massachu- 
setts, to Boston, perhaps,” said I. 

“ Yes, or is expended where some one else will 
make improvements, till it doubles or trebles itself 
again ; but the man’s debt is not paid. Still he has 
run the risk, been to the trouble of doing what has 
put money into that other man’s pocket ; while the 
other man has done nothing toward it. Justice 
would have given at least a portion of that increase 
to him, to aid in canceling that debt ; but there is no 
justice in the God-cursed system. Away with it 
from the face of the earth ! 

“ Wellby, however, gets his two hundred and forty 
each year,” continued Rockman, after taking time to 
quiet down a little from his burst of indignation ; 
‘‘ for his money has made slaves of that Western 
family, and they must furnish him with that sum, or 
they lose their home. He thus has them by the 
throat, you see ; and it is ‘ your money, or your life.’ ” 
But there is one point you have not named even 
yet. Uncle Rockman.” 

And what is that, child ? ” 

“ The State gets a greater amount in taxes from 
the increased valuation caused by the use of that 
two thousand.” 


THE OTHER SIDE, 


85 


‘‘Yes, I spoke of increased taxes, little woman: 
you forget.” 

“Not so fast, uncle; I do not forget. It is true 
that you spoke of increased taxation in reference to 
the people’s pockets, but you said nothing of the 
use made by the ‘ State fathers ’ of that money ; 
you failed to look on the other side.” 

“ Oh ! they increased their salaries on account of 
their increased duties, I presume. As there were no 
‘ State mothers ’ to do it for them without charge, 
their washing bills would grow large ; their spit- 
boxes would have to be cleaned occasionally too ; 
much oftener than before they became a great State, 
and had a great deal of company from abroad ; gen- 
tlemen, of course. These virtuous fathers would 
never think of entertaining ladies.” 

‘"When did you take your last dose of Avorm- 
wood, Uncle Rockman, that you are so sarcastically 
bitter?” I asked; for the sneering tone that he 
used when in some of his moods annoyed me. 

“ The last time I was athirst. This sin-cursed 
world has nothing but vinegar mingled with worm- 
wood and gall, to give to such as I. 

‘ Nothing but a manger, 

Cursed sinners could afford, 

To receive the heavenly stranger.’ ” 

“But Jesus sweetened his with, ‘Father, forgive 
them,’ you know.” 

“ That is what we are told, madam : he sweetened 
his in his way, and I must mine in my way. But we 
have not done with Wellby yet.” 


86 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


“ And are not likely to be, it seems,” said I laugh- 
ingly. 

‘‘Not if you keep interrupting me, puss. Every 
year he receives his two hundred and forty dollars, 
and uses it in paying men for doing what will bring 
him twice that sum. He is doing so much good 
with his money, you know ! Those men didn’t do 
him any good ; oh, no ! Why, they would starve if 
he didn’t furnish them with work ! ” 

“ You see, he doesn’t look on the other side.” 

“Well, ten years have rolled away. The husband 
and father has died with the two thousand unpaid, 
the thought thereof imbittering his last moments. 
True, Wellby has received two thousand four hun- 
dred ; but what of that ? It has only been for the 
use of the money : it is only the interest that he has 
received ; but he now needs the principal, and must 
have it, for he sees a chance to do so much good 
with it. The result is, the property must be sold. 
When the two thousand is paid, together with the 
expense attendant on forced sale, the widow and 
children have about as much as they would have 
had, had it been sold before the two thousand was 
used upon it. 

“ Ten years of labor gone, and Wellby has had the 
avails in that two thousand four hundred of interest- 
money. For ten years, men East and men West 
have worked for this man, he so managing that 
those West paid those East; and neither have added 
to their possessions, while he has been growing rich 
all the time. Now, what would be justice between 
them, in your estimation, madam ? ’ 


THE OTHER SIDE. 


87 


“ I can give you my estimate of it,” said I. 

“Well, if you please.” 

“ All that W ellby has now, over and above what he 
had ten years ago, should be divided between him 
and those who have helped him to gain it. Fifty 
thousand dollars, I think he said that his property is 
worth now. Well, suppose that he was worth five 
thousand then; and suppose that it has taken the 
labor, the time, of eight men beside himself, to make 
this increase ; he having had his living for self and 
family, and they theirs. Taking out his original five 
thousand, we have forty-five thousand left ; an equal 
division of that would give him and them five thou- 
sand each.” 

“ And that is your idea of justice ? ” he asked. 

“ It is,” was my reply. 

“ Why, woman ! you have given capital no chance 
whatever.” 

“ I did not intend to, further than the chance of 
keeping itself whole. Give us the same chance to 
repair life’s forces as they wear away, and we 
should live forever. Death would be swallowed up 
in victory, and immortality sure. Why should dead 
matter, in the shape of capital, be permitted to 
increase itself at the expense of human hearts and 
brains, I would ask ? ” 

“Well done! well done, little woman!” he ex- 
claimed, rising and walking rapidly back and forth ; 
“ but we cannot spare you yet.” 

“ And who talks of sparing me ? ” 

He stopped in his walk, faced me a moment, and 
answered, “ You are so near the kingdom, that, if the 


88 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


gate should be left ajar, the draught might take you 
in.” 

“ And then I should know what was on the ‘ other 
Me^ ” said I quickly. 

‘‘ There may be a possibility of seeing the ‘ other 
side ’ of things too soon for our own good. I some- 
times think there is,” was his thoughtful response. 

‘‘And there comes the ‘other side ’ to this discus- 
sion ; or, rather, what will put an end to it,” said I, 
starting up as I saw a carriage stop at the door, and 
a friend preparing to alight. 



OTHER POINTS. — A PROBLEM. 


89 


CHAPTER V. 

OTHER POINTS. — A PROBLEM. 

DO not exactly like the way the other 
side of those questions was illustrated,” 
I said to Rockman a few mornings after 
we had been interrupted, as related in 
the preceding chapter. 

“ Why ? did I not compliment you highly enough ? ” 
Pshaw ! you know better. But it seems to me 
that you took particular pains to bring out the very 
darkest points, to cite extreme cases ; and I think it 
hardly fair. Do you ? ” 

‘‘ Don’t, now, appeal to my sense of justice, I 
beg,” said he in tones of mock distress ; besides, 
it is ‘not fair’ to make a witness testify against 
himself.” 

“ Never mind your ‘ sense of justice : ’ waive that 
in favor of gallantry, and answer my question, 
please,” I returned in the same strain. 

“Well, if I must, I must. But I shall defend 
myself. Yes, I do. I think it perfectly right to 
match one extreme with another. It is the system 
that I am showing up. It is the system which causes 
men and women to make fools of themselves and one 
another ; hardening their hearts, and blinding their 
eyes, by continually presenting to them false issues, 
false hopes. 



90 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


I do nc t like to make human beings look ugly ; 
but if there is something that is making them really 
so, and its advocates show us what is good in us in 
spite of that something, that system, claiming this 
good to be the result of the system itself, have I not 
the right to hold up the true results, and the worst 
that can be found, in order to convince them of their 
error ? ” 

But will it do that ? Will they not see at once 
that you have given extreme cases, the results of 
individual folly perhaps, and thus just the opposite 
effect from what you desire be produced? ” 

So thought not the agitators of the slavery ques- 
tion: they quoted the worst features, not because 
they were everywhere true, but because they existed 
under, were the legitimate fruits of, the system. 
Many of our best people thought them too severe ; 
but they knew that it took Gabriel’s trump to wake 
the dead, and they could not be induced to blow 
softly, even to save weak ears.” 

“ Still I can not but feel, uncle, that those ‘ anti- 
slavery’ veterans made a mistake somewhere, some- 
how ; though I do not see clearly how.” 

Well, I can,” he said: “they condemned the 
people with the system ; they denounced the slave- 
holder as the chief of all villains, as well as the system 
as the sum of all villainies. They said, ^ Stand by thy- 
self : I am holier than thou,’ forgetting that we are all 
sinners, that we have all come short of the perfect law. 
People are conscious in their inner souls of a desire^ 
to do right ; and whatever of wrong they admit, they 
justify by the force of circumstances, consequently 
will not submit quietly to unqualified condemnation.” 


OTHER POINTS. — A PROBLEM. 


91 


“And that is where you think the mistaiie was? ” 

“ I do.” 

“ Perhaps you are right,” I said after a moment’s 
thought ; “ but it seems to me that people are so in- 
clined to identify themselves with that which they 
advocate or sustain, that opposition thereto is con- 
sidered as opposition to themselves.” 

“Where, then, did the mistake come in?” 

“ I do not know: perhaps there was none.” 

“ Perhaps,” he repeated : “ Christians say that 
there are no mistakes in God’s perfect plan, and I 
suppose that slavery comes in with the rest ; but it 
seems like blasphemy to admit it.” 

“If we go into the realm of the absolute. Uncle 
Rockman, we are sure to get beyond our depth ; let 
us confine ourselves to facts and their relations. 
You have owned that you have quoted extreme 
cases to illustrate the workings of our present finan- 
cial system, and” — 

“You mistake, child: it was you who accused me 
of that, and I claimed that I had that right, neither 
affirming nor denying as to the accusation.” 

“You said that you should defend yourself; and 
what need of defense if there was nothing to de- 
fend?” 

“ The rights of the people, your rights ; general 
principles.” 

“ Bat they are not yourself?” 

“ Oh, yes ! they are when they are represented in 
me. You said it was not fair: I said that it was, and 
thus defended myself in the right to do so if I chose ; 
and, in defending myself, defended you, should you 
be placed in a similar position.” 


92 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘ Thanks for your championship.” 

Of truth,” he interrupted. 

‘‘Well, I am truth when I represent it,” I retorted, 
using his own illustration against him ; “ so thanks for 
your championship of myself ; but did you not really 
use extreme cases in illustrating the other side of 
the results of Blank, Ledger, and Wellby’s specu- 
lations ? ” 

“ If you mean beyond the medium, yes ; if the very 
worst, no. I have given extremes perhaps, as they 
occur through the acts of people who have a desire 
to be honest in their dealings one with another ; such 
as would not willingly injure any one ; but ‘ business 
is business, you know,’ is their motto, and they obey 
it. But there are those whose ruling love is money, 
or, it may be, an ambition that money is needed to 
carry out. Such will let nothing stand in their way : 
the technicalities of the law itself are taken advan- 
tage of, and the system can not prevent even this. 
Here extreme cases come in ; but I did not use them, 
though I have known some such. 

“ Why? do you ask? Simply because they would 
not have been the true opposite, the other side to the 
characters I was dealing with. Blank and Ledger 
were not bad-in tentioned men; neither is Wellby. 
On the contrary, they were and are good men, as the 
world goes ; as good, perhaps better, than the average ; 
consequently, are a fairer illustration of the workings 
of a system which must change, pass away, to give 
place to one more perfect.” 

“ I wish that time would come,” I said. 

“ But what shall take its place?” he asked with 


OTHER POINTS. — A PROBLEM. 


93 


startling emphasis : “ you can not answer, neither can 
I ; it is a problem that is yet to be solyed.’’ 

“ And, till it is, we must be content with what we 
have, for any thing that I can see,” I asserted in a 
tone that showed a desire to close the discussion. 

‘‘ Not content with, but as patient under it as is 
consistent.” 

“A patience that will permit of cursing when one 
feels like it,” I retorted: ‘‘ha, ha, ha! you are a 
pretty example of patience.” 

“ Of course I am,” he replied with the most imper- 
turbable coolness ; “ an emetic deliberately taken to 
dislodge the contents of an overloaded stomach is no 
sign of impatience ; but it is a sign, is good evidence, 
that the party is not content with his condition : so 
I may be, am discontented ; and cursing may help me 
to bear, to make me patient, simply because of the 
relief to overcharged nerves; do you comprehend?” 

“I think I do.” 

“ But you are tired of this, and are too polite to 
say so in words, though your manner shows it plainly 
enough : no, I am not offended ; it is time I was 
going. Good morning.” 

“ Is there or was there ever another like him ? ” 
was my involuntary comment as he closed the door 
behind him. Then my mind reverted to the system 
of society, to the methods of dealing one with an- 
other, to the powers that be, and their natural resist- 
ance to the changes, that I agreed with Rockman in 
saying, must be made ; and I cried out in an agony of 
spirit, — 

“ Who is sufficient for these things ?” 


94 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


Then there came to my mind the Rabbinical 
legend of Sandalphon, the angel of prayer ; and I 
wondered if he was really gathering the prayers of 
humanity, the heart-hungering prayers, that were 
constantly going up for a better state of things. 

If so, and they finally ‘‘ change into flowers in his 
hands,” Avhat a flowery future we have before us, 
which will be ours when we get to it ! But the, “ How 
long, O Lord, how long ? ” that we send up so often, 
seems many times to be met too much as was the 
darky’s when overheard by his master, — 

As long as my whip-lash ; ” the weight of its swift 
descent resting, at the same moment, upon the poor 
fellow’s back. Well, if ‘Svhom the Lord loveth he 
chasteneth,” then we are all beloved; and if the 
words of the Methodist hymn are true, ‘‘Through 
tribulations deep, the way to glory lies,” we shall be 
likely to reach the glory some time ; for the deep trib- 
ulation comes to us all sooner or later. 

The poet, after portraying the legend of Sandal- 
phon, says, — 

“ It is but a legend, I know, — 

A fable, a phantom, a show, 

Of the ancient Rabbinical lore ; 

Yet the old mediaeval tradition. 

The beautiful, strange superstition, 

But haunts me and holds me the more. 

When I look from my window at night. 

And the welkin above is all white, 

All throbbing and panting with stars, 

Among the majestic is standing 
Sandalphon the angel, expanding 
His pinions in nebulous bars. 


OTHER POINTS, — A PROBLEM, 


95 


And the legend, I feel, is a part 
Of the hunger and thirst of the heart, 

Of the frenzy and fire of the brain, 

That grasps at the fruitage forbidden. 

The golden pomegranates of Eden, 

To quiet its fever and pain.” 

Yes, that is it, — the true reason of our restless- 
ness; we are fevered with the results of false condi- 
tions ; fevered, and full of pain, our restless spirits 
grasp hither and thither. Some look upward to the 
stars, and pour forth their longings in language of 
such plaintive eloquence, that I sometimes wonder if 
the angels ever stoop to listen. 

Still it is a feverish pleading, in which the true 
and false are strangely mixed, in which realities and 
shadows interchange and multiply each other. 

Others, with different phases of this fever, this 
heart, soul hunger, take to whiskey, tobacco, opium, 
dress, style, fashion, politics, religion, — yes, religion ; 
for a fevered devotion is as common as any other 
form of this disease. O God ! how much gall and 
wormwood will it take to cleanse and clear both 
heart and brain ? 

Thus questioning and groaning in spirit, the 
atmosphere of my room became too close for me, and 
I went out into the sunlight. Brick walls all about 
me, brick under my feet, and hard pebbles, threaded 
with iron rails, over the entire street. I looked up- 
ward, and the sky was as blue, as pure, as soft and 
yielding, as though it was not made up, in part, with 
emanations from brick that had been hardened by 
man’s invention, from iron that he had wrenched 


96 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


from its native ore, and from stone that he had 
made to serve him. 

“ O man ! ” I said, thou makest all things to serve 
thee : why canst thou not solve this problem of the 
ages ? why <ianst thou not find that which will allay 
thy fevered thirst ? 

The churchman points me to Him who sat by the 
well of Samaria, and talked of the living water, of 
which if one drink, it shall be a well of water spring- 
ing up within him into everlasting life. But have 
they received it ? Do they not sicken and die like 
others ? ” 

On, on, through the busy streets, I pass as I thus 
question, till at length my feet become weary with 
pressing the unyielding pavement ; and I take my seat 
in the cars for the convenience of which those iron 
rails separated the pebbles in the equally unyielding 
street. 

Passengers must get on and off ; and we stop in 
front of a vehicle from which two strong men are 
lifting something. What is it ? 

Can it be possible ? yes, it is a woman ; in spite of 
all her rags and dirt, I recognize the sad fact, that 
soul-hunger, that the ‘‘fever and pain,” have dragged 
a woman down to this. Those strong men, some 
woman’s sons, were policemen; and the building into 
which they were taking her was a police court. 
Alas, my sister ! unconscious, stupefied by the liquid 
fire of man’s invention, thou hast for the time for- 
gotten thy thirst, but only to awake with keener 
gnawings. 

But who is this sitting opposite me ? his bloodshot 


OTHER POINTS. — A PROBLEM. 


97 


eyes, his blistered face, his blossoming nose, all tell 
the same tale, three witnesses testifying to his degra- 
dation ; but he is well dressed, and sits independently 
erect. He has never been obliged to sell himself for 
bread ; he is a gentleman, of course he is ; and yet his 
magnetism would scorch a sensitive, a pure woman 
like the flames of hell. No wonder that a woman 
with a spark of the human still left in her takes to 
alcoholic fires, if forced by conditions into such fires 
as that. 

But I pass on till at length the bit of nature 
beautified by art, the park, meets my eye, — an oasis 
amid a desert of brick and stone. 

Thank heaven that the god Mammon can not rob 
Nature of all of the love of her children ! The good 
mother still retains her hold, and so there is hope. 

Here I took my seat, and watched the comers and 
goers, studying the various characters as they passed 
before me. Presently my attention was attracted by 
the appearance of a tall, finely formed man, with jet 
black wavy hair, and eyes to match, who stepped 
quickly forward to meet one of the most lovely girls 
that I had ever seen. She seemed to me like a gush 
of sunshine and song pervading a bed of violets. She 
blushed and smiled as the gentleman approached; 
and then they walked slowly back and forth, his head 
bent toward her the while, with a deferential air, as 
he listened and talked. 

I could see, both from her dress and manner, that 
she was unaccustomed to city life ; and the deference 
paid her by the courtly man of the world evidently 
charmed and bewildered her thoughtless little head. 

9 


98 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘ Another victim ! ” “ Who is she ? ” “ Some one 

ought to warn her,” were the remarks that I heard 
from those around me. Just then I saw Rockman 
coming quickly toward me. 

“ Prepare for a scene,” said he, as soon as he was 
near enough to speak without the others hearing. 

‘‘ What is coming ? ” said I, glancing toward the 
couple who had just passed. 

‘‘ Yes, it is of them ; Minnie has been defeated so 
far in every movement that she has made to separate 
them ; and she feels that something must be done 
soon, or it will be too late. Be prepared to act as 
the occasion demands, for I never saw Minnie so 
aroused : there she comes ! ” 

I turned, and saw a lady approaching with a quick, 
firm step, and the air of a princess. W as that Minnie 
Morris? Was she an infamous woman ? She went 
up to the couple, threw back her veil, and confronted 
them. Her face Avas as pale as it will ever be when 
in her winding-sheet, but her eyes flashed. 

The girl gave a frightened little scream, and 
shrank closer to the man’s side. ‘‘ You here ! ” he 
exclaimed turning pale, then flushing to an angry 
red. 

“ I am here, and intend to save that child from 
your hellish grasp, if it costs me my life.” 

“ Begone, or I will call the police.” 

‘‘If you dare, Henry Gould.” 

“I most certainly should, did you not wear a 
woman’s form ; though there is not much womanhood 
left, I should infer from the character you bear.” 

“Enough left to match all the manhood that is left 


OTHER POINTS. — A PROBLEM. 


99 


of a dozen such as you ; and much you care for a 
woman’s form, only so far as you can make it minis- 
ter to your demands,” was her quick retort. 

‘‘Come away. Miss Leland: this is no place for 
you,” he said, attempting to pass. But the crowd 
was too dense to make that an easy matter, and Min- 
nie had come prepared. Suddenly there stepped 
forth a veiled form ; and, dropping upon her knees in 
front of the pair, she threw back her veil, and looked 
Gould in the face; it was but a moment, till another 
and then a third did the same thing. It was too 
much ; the man fled from the faces of his victims. 

“Now you and your friend look after this sweet 
child,” said Minnie, turning to Rockman, “ and I will 
away to my o wn work.” The others went their ways 
also ; but the poor child (she was but a child, not 
more than sixteen) when she found that her ” 

had fled and left her, fainted, and would have fallen 
prostrate had not Rockman caught her. 

“ Poor lamb, poor lamb ! ” he murmured, as he 
rested her head upon his breast, and chafed her 
hands and temples. 

“ Who, what, what does this mean? my child, oh, 
my child ! ” cried a middle-aged man, who had just 
come up, starting forward as he beheld the fainting 
girl. 

“ We have saved her,” said Rockman, comprehend- 
ing the anguish of the question. 

“ Thank heaven ! ” and, tottering to a seat, he 
extended his arms. 

“Thank heaven, and Minnie Morris,” said Rock- 
man, placing his child therein; and when Violet 


100 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


opened her eyes, her head was resting upon hei 
father’s breast. 

Violet,” I repeated, as I heard the name, “ my 
comparison, my thought, was not out of place. She is 
a violet in her sweet modesty, and a golden crowned 
lily in her rare beauty.” 

It was her sweet, shrinking modesty, that had held 
the destroyer back, even while it intensified his de- 
sire to possess. He dare not move too fast, and thus 
there had been time for Minnie to act ; and faithfully 
had she worked. 

From the first moment she had set her eyes upon 
the girl, she felt that the city was not her atmos- 
phere, — that she was marked for some one’s victim, 
but whose ? To learn this, she must move cautiously. 
She set her agents to work, Rockman with the rest, 
and finally she learned the girl’s name and home ; 
then her friends were warned; and the father set 
forth to find the child that he had supposed, till a few 
hours before, was safe with an aunt in an adjoining 
State. 

They had learned before Minnie’s letter reached 
them, that she was not, had not been, with her aunt, 
and were in a state of the utmost consternation, when 
they, through the efforts of one that the world called 
infamous, found the clew that led to her restoration. 

But things were taking such a shape, that Minnie 
dared not wait the result of her letter, so resorted to 
the method that we have related. 

I had often heard Mr. Rockman speak of Minnie 
Morris, had become interested in her, but had never 
met her till now, and now had not even spoken with 


OTHER POINTS. — A PROBLEM. 


101 


her ; but a glance at her determined face, as she con- 
fronted Gould, had bound me to her for ever. I cared 
not what the world called her, my soul claimed her 
as sister; and I no longer wondered that Jesus said 
of such, — 

The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom 
of heaven before you.” 

It would be needless to relate, even if a full account 
could be given of, the steps that were taken, the 
means used to draw Violet Leland from the protec- 
tion of her friends. We have seen that the plot was 
defeated, and we rejoice together, my dear reader, — 
defeated in this case ; but, oh ! of how many plots 
that are laid, can this be said ? 

Is God partial ? does he leave things to be directed 
by chance ? or what does it all mean ? 

“ God moves in a mysterious way,’ 

His wonders to perform ; 

He plants his footsteps in the sea, 

And rides upon the storm. 

Blind unbelief is sure to err, 

And scan his works in vain : 

God is his own interpreter, 

And he will make it plain.’’ 

So says the poet; and John the Revelator says that 
the angel who stood with one foot on the sea and the 
other upon the land sware that — 

“ In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when 
he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should 
be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the 
prophets.” 


9 * 


102 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


And our hearts cry out, “ Hasten the unfolding of 
this mystery ; ” but, even as we thus ask, there com- 
eth to us the words of Jesus, — 

‘‘ Ye know not what ye ask.” 



A SURPRISE, — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. 103 


CHAPTER VL 

A SURPRISE. — FURTHER DEYELOPMEUTS. 

NOTICED, when describing the scene 
in the park, that Rose was particularly 
interested. Her color went and came ; 
and, as I neared the finale, her excite- 
ment increased. When I concluded, 
she drew a long breath, and left the room ; and as I 
passed her door, soon after, I heard her sobbing. I 
asked no questions, but resolved to watch and wait ; 
for as I remembered how Rose looked when I knew 
her, a happy school-girl, I fancied that I could trace 
a resemblance between her and Violet Leland. 

Mr. Leland remained in the city a few days, but 
he did not lose sight of his daughter. With a 
strange pertinacity, so it seemed to his friends, he 
took her with him while he sought out Minnie 
Morris, the three girls who had confronted Gould, 
and, last of all, coming with Rockman to call upon 
me. 

‘‘ I will risk Violet’s coming to any harm by going 
where her father goes, and listening to what he 
hears,” he said. ‘‘ Had my girl been better informed, 
she could never have been drawn so near to the 
precipice.” 

I had said nothing of my suspicions to any one ; 




104 


N.OTIIJNG LIKE IT. 


but, when I saw them coming, I sent Rose to my 
closet for an article that I could have done without, 
but which I took a notion to have just then. I did 
this to have her as far from the door as possible. 

“ I have brought Mr. Leland and his daughter,” 
said Rockman, leading the way, “ as they wished to 
see you before they left the city.” 

“ I am glad to meet you,” said I, extending my 
hand ; and allow me to introduce my friend Miss 
Barron,” turning quickly toward Rose, who had 
started to leave the room. 

Mr. Leland looked up with a start, as I pro- 
nounced the name ; then, getting a full view of her 
face, he exclaimed, — 

‘‘ Do the dead come to life? Rose, O Rose! what 
does this mean ? ” 

Rose managed to say Uncle,” but was too much 
overcome to add any thing more ; and I replied for 
her, — 

‘‘ It means, Mr. Leland, that the lamb can be saved 
out of the den of the wolf, as well as prevented 
from going in.” 

Violet looked from one to the other with a puzzled 
expression upon her face : ‘‘ I should say it was 
Cousin Rose, only I thought she was dead.” 

And so I was, to all intents and purposes ; oh I 
why have you come to drag me out before the 
world again ? ” sobbed Rose. 

“ But why do this. Rose ? why leave us to think 
you were dead ? who wrote that letter telling us that 
you had fallen into the sea, and that your body had 
never been found ? ” asked Mr. Leland. 


A SURPRISE, — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. 105 


“ I wrote it, uncle ; I thought my friends would 
feel better thinking so, than to know the truth;” and 
then, “ oh, my poor mother ! how is she ? ” 

But I will pass over the next half-hour, in which 
something of what Rose had suffered was told to her 
rejoicing yet sorrowing relatives. 

Still the worst was kept back to be told by Rock- 
man afterward. 

‘‘ And this is what I have been saved from,” 
sobbed Violet. ‘‘ How much I have learned within a 
few days ! I feel as though I was ten years older.” 

“It is a terrible awakening, my child,” said Mr. 
Leland ; “ but the lesson learned has not cost us too 
dearly.” 

Mr. Leland tried hard to induce Rose to accom- 
pany him home, Violet joining in the request. 

“ I can not, I can not,” was her only reply. 

“ What shall I tell your mother, then ? ” he asked, 
when he found that his pleading was useless. 

“ I would rather that she would continue to think 
me dead,” was the reply. 

“ But I can not allow that, my child ; for 'I know 
that she w^ould give all she possesses to look upon 
your face once more.” 

Rose opened her lips as if to speak, and then 
closed them again. 

“ What is it, my child ? ” he asked. 

“1 was thinking of what I have heard her say, 
but no matter ; say to her what you please. If she 
wishes to come here, I will see her; but I can not go 
there.” 

I had tried several times to learn of Rose where 


106 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


her friends resided, but could get nothing from her. 
When she attended my school she was boarding with 
a distant relative, a maiden lady who had since died : 
and so I had no clew whatever. But that which I 
had sought to do was at length brought about with- 
out my aid, and she was restored to her friends, at 
least so far as the knowledge of her whereabouts was 
concerned. 

A few weeks afterward, a pale, sorrowful-looking, 
elderly lady rang the bell, and asked for me. I 
knew, as soon as I looked into her face, who it was 
that stood before me ; and, quietly leading the way, 
I rapped at the door of Rose’s room. She came and 
opened it; and I left them standing face to face. 

What transpired between mother and child, the 
next few hours, none but God and attending angels 
know ; but, when they came down to tea. Rose wore 
a look of subdued happiness such as I had never seen 
upon her face before ; while every line of the mother’s 
features said, — 

This my child was dead, and is alive ; was lost, 
and is found.” 

But no word of pleading could induce Rose to 
return with her mother : I can not, I can not,” was 
still her cry. After her mother had left, I tried by 
gradual efforts to bring her out from her seclusion, 
to mingle in that society of which she was so well 
fitted to form a part. She resisted my efforts, and 
finally turned upon me one day with, I will go 
where you will never hear from me again, if you will 
not leave me in peace.” 

“ But w^hy will you persist in throwing your life 
away?” I asked. 


A SUBPEISE. — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS, 107 


“ I am not throwing it away,” she replied. “ It 
has been taken from me, and I can not bring it back. 
Do you suppose, with the wrongs I have endured 
for ever haunting me, that I can go out and face the 
world ? ” 

‘‘Yes, and show that you are greater than that 
world by looking it in the face, and defying its in- 
justice. I know. Rose, that you have suffered ter- 
ribly : I have waited, giving you time to gather 
strength, still hoping, expecting, that you would yet 
become a worker in 

^ The cause that lacks assistance,’ 

against 

* The wrong that needs resistance.’ 

Tell me, have I hoped in vain ? ” 

“ Oh, my kind, my best of friends, do not, do not 
press me so hardly ! ” she exclaimed, sobbing as if 
her heart would break. 

My heart bled for her ; but I knew that she must 
be aroused, so I continued, — 

“ Will you allow the only benefit that can be gath- 
ered from your sufferings to escape you for want of 
courage to use the opportunity thus afforded you ? 
It seems to me that it has cost too much to have it 
thrown away.” 

She gave me a startled look. “ What do you 
mean ? ” she asked. 

“ I mean this : you have not sinned, but have been 
sinned against. You have been crucified, have worn 
the crown of thorns, drinked the wormwood and the 


108 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


gall, and you have lain in the grave of inaction, of 
forgetfulness ; but has it not been long enough ? I 
know that it is hewn out of a rock, that it is well 
guarded ; but let the angel of determination come 
to your rescue, and the keepers will begin to quake 
before you. I mean. Rose Barron, that you are 
greater than all you have suffered, greater than all 
that opposes, if you will only think so.” 

But what can I do ? ” she asked, in a way that 
showed me I was making an impression. 

‘‘ I will find enough for you to do, if you will only 
do it ; but the first thing necessary is to look yourself 
squarely in the face without blushing; in other 
words, assert your self-respect. Why, even Minnie 
Morris, in saving others, will yet save herself; for 
their loving magnetism will bear her upward, whether 
she will or no.” 

‘‘ Yes, Minnie is doing a good work ; but I wish 
she would leave the business she is in,” was her 
reply, after a moment’s silence. 

‘‘From the world’s standpoint, it might seem 
better ; but I am not so sure that it would be.” 

Rose looked at me with so much astonishment 
depicted upon her countenance, that I laughed 
heartily, in spite of my efforts to the contrary. 

“ Don’t be frightened, dear : I am not advocating 
prostitution,” I said, as soon as I could speak. “ But 
Minnie’s life is under her own control where she is, 
as much as though she was in some other business ; 
and perhaps more so, for she has the means to be 
independent. True, she boards those whose lives 
are not what we could wish ; but the merchant, the 


A SURPRISE, — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS, 109 


lawyer, the dressmaker, and all others, are just as 
ready to take their money in payment of dues, as 
she is for their board ; at an exorbitant price, you 
may say, but not in proportion to the risk. Society, 
though ever ready to take their money, would push 
them out of existei^ce if it could. 

“ If they should go to church, as they often do, 
and, when the contribution-box was passed, should 
put in a five or a ten dollar bill, the minister will be 
just as glad to get it, as he would have been had it 
been paid first to the deacon for goods, and then 
passed into the box for his use.” 

‘‘ Do you mean to say that you think Minnie can 
do more good where she is than elsewhere ? ” asked 
Rose. 

I mean to say that she can if she will ; that she 
has greater opportunities. She has access now to 
those that she could not reach, were she to try to 
work with such as call themselves Christians. Be- 
side, if she were to attempt to join with that class 
of people, she would have to conform to their ideas 
of things, or she would not be accepted ; and even 
then she would be expected to take a back seat, and 
Minnie will never do that. 

Many a one who would otherwise be efl&cient 
workers are kept back by the Pharisaical, ‘ Stand by 
thyself : I am holier than thou,’ pride of those who 
take the lead in benevolent enterprises and works of 
charity; and, where she now is, Minnie is not limited 
by long faces or mock prayers ; so she can do her 
own work in her own way, and saves more young 
girls from destruction in one year than any half- 
10 


no 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


dozen church-members in the city do in twice that 
length of time. True, her good is not unmixed ; 
but whose is ? ” 

I waited for some further response from Rose, but 
she made none. She seemed in deep thought ; and I 
left her, praying that she might yet learn that — 

‘ ‘ Heaven has its own peculiar way 
Of making angels out of clay; 

And deep the chiselings of God, 

That mold a seraph from the sod/’ 

The next morning Rose came down to breakfast 
as usual, but her face wore the same thoughtful look 
as when I left her on the night previous: her man- 
ner was quiet and subdued, but it lacked the give- 
up, the helpless element that had so long pervaded 
it. Toward night she came to me with, — 

“ I do not know as I quite understood you last 
night ; but it seems to me you intended to say, that, if 
we were lost to the world, we should find ourselves.” 

“ That is just what I meant, but you have said it 
better than I did,” I replied, more pleased than I 
chose to show. 

And, when we have thus found our real selves, 
that we should do what we can in our own way, 
regardless of what the world that had cast us out 
might say, our acts being subject only to the 
approval of God and our own souls ? ” she continued. 

Yes : that is, we must not seek the approval of 
the world ; but, if our line of duty lies where it 
comes without seeking, then we need not go out of 
our w'ay to provoke martyrdom.” 


A SURPRISE. — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. Ill 


Well, I do not know as I crave martyrdom,” she 
said, “but I do not feel as though I desired the 
world’s approval ; I should fear that I was not 
wholly unselfish ; beside, I see so much that is false, 
that I think I should prefer its frowns to its smiles. 
I had hoped to remain quiet, and provoke neither ; 
but I find that it is not to be.” 

I waited, expecting to hear some definite decision,' 
some expression of purpose as to what she intended ; 
but she did not seem inclined to converse further, 
and I would not question. I knew that time was 
the best developer in her case, and I was content to 
abide the result. 

The next day, as she came down dressed to go 
out, she put her hand upon mine, looked into my 
face, and said, — 

“ Whatever you hear, whatever you see, trust me.” 

“ Yes, and bless you too ! ” I replied, pressing a kiss 
upon her sweet lips. 

“ Thank you,” and she was gone. She did not 
return till in the evening, and then Rockman came 
with her. She said nothing, neither did I. This 
was repeated some three or four times within the 
next two weeks, till at length I remarked, — 

“ Are you two engaged in a conspiracy ? ” 

“ Perhaps,” said Rose ; and Rockman added, 
“ Where ignorance is best, ’tis folly to be wise.” 

“ You are not good at quoting, sir,” I said. 

“ Oh ! yes, I am ; for I know just how to bend the 
quotation to suit the case. Ignorance is not bliss for 
you or any other child of Eve ; for you all want to 
know all that is going on.” 


112 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘ Well, I do not seem very likely to find out,” I 
retorted, assuming an injured look. 

‘‘ Now, don’t, or I shall cry ; don’t, please, be 
angry with me,” said Rose, with mock terror 
depicted upon her countenance. 

Come, little girls, don’t waste your time in try- 
ing to be actresses ; for you will never succeed, 
though you might become good at caricature.” 

“Now, Uncle Eben, that is too bad!” we both 
exclaimed at once ; but his ‘Only response was, — 

“ It’s the truth.” 

About a week after this. Rose said, on going out, 
“ Do not be alarmed if I do not return to-night.” 

1 wondered what it all meant, but felt certain that 
there was nothing wrong, so simply bowed in assent. 

The next morning about ten o’clock the bell rang ; 
and a lad, apparently about fifteen years of age, pre- 
sented a note, saying that it was from Miss Morris, 
and with a bow retired. 

“ No answer is needed, it seems,” I said to myself 
as the boy left, and then proceeded to read the note, 
which ran thus : “ Do not be uneasy about Rose : she 
is under my care, and I would protect her with my 
life if necessary. Your friend, 

“Minnie Moeeis. 

“ P.S. — How do you like the looks of my errand- 
boy?” 

I had no anxiety about Rose, but the postscript 
puzzled me. It made me keep thinking of the boy; 
and somehow I fancied that I had seen that face 
before, or one very much like it. But, the more I 


A SURPRISE, — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS, 113 


thought, the more I couldn’t tell where or when, so 
the more I was puzzled. 

Another night passed, and Rose did not return. 
The next morning, about the same hour, another 
note was brought ; but this time the bearer was a 
middle-aged man of dignified appearance and gentle- 
manly bearing, and the postscript read, — 

“ How do you like the looks of my particular 
friend, or, in other words, lover ? ” 

This, as before, had the effect to keep me think- 
ing of the bearer; and the same haunting resem- 
blance to some one I had seen, that had troubled me 
in reference to the boy, existed in this case also. In 
the afternoon Rockman called, and I related these 
facts to him. 

There came a look over his face that was like a 
flash, gone before you have caught it, and yet saying 
so much. That look told me that he understood the 
mystery, and yet told me so indistinctly that I was 
not quite sure that I had read aright. 

He laughed, and remarked, ‘‘ You women are 
always imagining something. I presume that you 
have met them on the street.” 

‘‘ And you men are always doing something to 
make us imagine,” was my retort. 

“ Humph ! ” said he, “ how much of your doings 
would you like to have us shoulder, I should be glad 
to be informed ? It seems to me that in this case it 
is women who are doing, — Minnie and Rose, for 
instance ; while the third one can only imagine, and 
so is troubled. Poor puss wants a corner. That’s 
what’s the matter.” 

10 * 


114 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


“Well, there should he four corners, uncle; and 
if Rose, Minnie, and yourself occupy but three, why 
should I not have the other ? ” 

“ You mistake, child : it is Rose, Minnie, and her 
errand-bearers, the boy and the lover, who occupy 
the corners.” 

“And yourself left out also. Well, I must say 
that it is too bad. Still you are such a philosopher, 
I suppose that you can endure it ; but what can I 
do?” 

He smiled at my nonsense, and replied, — 

“ Prepare for denouements.” 

“ There is something at the bottom of all this that I 
intend to find out,” said I, noticing his peculiar tone. 

“ Of course* ^ i will ; when a woman says she 
will, she will, ^ l may depend upon it ; ” and then, 
rising to his feet, he added, “ The atmosphere of a 
curious, inquisitive, dissatisfied woman does not 
exactly suit me : so I will bid you good afternoon, 
madam.” 

“ Cowards always run when the battle gets too 
hot for their liking,” I flung after him as he closed 
the door, and then I sat down to think. But I must 
confess that, in this case, thinking did not give me 
any light. The next morning the boy brought a 
third note, saying that Rose would be back that 
evening ; and, as I looked into his face, the truth 
flashed upon me. 

“ Rose,” I exclaimed, “ what masquerading is 
this?” 

“ Don’t,” said she, casting a quick, apprehensive 
glance around : “ no one must know but yourself ; 
take me to your room, and I will explain.” 


A SURPRISE. — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. 115 


I took her to her own room, and, closing and lock- 
ing the door, pointed to her closet. ‘‘ Go and change 
your dress,” said I, “ that I may know it is really 
you ; but, how you are going to be yourself without 
your curls, is more than I can understand.” 

She laughed, and, taking a package from her 
pocket, tossed it to me with, Undo and brush 
them, while I do as you have so peremptorily 
demanded.” 

I undid the package ; and there was her own beau- 
tiful hair, and so fitted to her head that when 
adjusted one would not know, without looking 
closely, that it had ever been cut off. She was soon 
arrayed in one of her becoming dresses; and, with 
the hair in its old place, she was aga* ^y own sweet 
Rose. 

‘‘I can not realize it,” I said: ‘‘you look so differ- 
ently from what you did a half-hour since ! ” 

“ Many things are hard to realize, that are never- 
theless true,” she replied in a tone of such serious 
gravity, that I was again astonished. How many 
transformations was my little Rose to pass through ? 

“ I begin to think,” she continued, “ that the whole 
world is two-sided ; and we judge of those with whom 
we come in contact bv the side that is turned toward 
us.” 

“ Have you been with Minnie all this time ? ” I 
asked, beginning to be anxious to get at the bottom 
of her plans. 

“ I have : Minnie and I have a common bond of 
sympathy. We have both suffered from one man’s 
perfidy ; and, would you believe it, I saw him there.” 
“ Is it possible, Rose I ” 


116 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


“ It is not only possible, but true ; and he patted 
Minnie on the back, saying that she was a trump, 
had too good sense to go moping around because a 
felloAV happened to be changeable, and so spoil the 
rest of her life. 

‘ Spare your compliments, if you please, Mr. 
Crandall,’ was her quiet reply; but I saw the fire 
flash from her eye in a way that boded him no good. 

“ Well, Minn, it was your own fault, after all : your 
temper drove me from you, or I presume I should 
have been faithful yet.’ 

‘‘ ‘ Miss Morris, if you please,’ she said, drawing 
herself up proudly. 

^“None of your airs with me, miss : they won’t go 
down.’” 

But where were you, Rose ? ” I asked, interrupt- 
ing her. 

“ Oh ! I was Miss Morris’s little waiter, and no one 
paid any attention to me ; that is, only once, when a 
gentleman who seemed a little the worse for liquor 
commenced talking to me.” 

“ Were you not frightened ? ” 

^‘Just a little startled; but Minnie’s stern, ‘Let 
my servants alone, if you please,’ put a stop to 
any thing further in that direction. But I have not 
done with Robert Crandall yet. Minnie turned upon 
him with, ‘ Where is Rose Barron, Mr. Crandall ? ’ 

“ Had a clap of thunder burst upon him from a 
clear sky, he could not have been more startled. 
‘ Why, wLat, what do you know of her ? ’ he 
asked. 

“ ‘ I know the history of that transaction, and that 
is enough for you, sir,’ was the prompt reply. 


A SURPRISE. — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. 117 


‘‘ Robert was silent for some moments. Minnie had 
said to me, pointing to a chair a little hack of Avhere 
she was standing, ‘ Sit down and rest you, Henry : I 
shall want you presently.” I knew that she did it 
to give me an excuse for staying, so I took the seat 
indicated. 

“ I watched and listened, without seeming to do so ; 
and Robert, judging from his looks, was trying to 
decide what course to take to disarm Minnie of 
whatever feeling she might have toward him on 
account of his treatment of me. 

“At length he said, ‘ Well, Minnie, I must confess 
that was the very meanest thing I ever did ; I have 
been sorry ever since, indeed I have ; but your 
temper drove me from you, and her beauty and her 
prudery made me wild. Where is the girl ? do you 
know ? ’ 

“ ‘ I do, but you can not find her ; ’ and then, looking 
him full in the face, ‘you say that you are sorry. 
Prove it.’ 

“ ‘ How ? ’ 

“ ‘ I will tell you,’ she answered. ‘ You wronged 
that girl beyond the power of language to express ; 
you are a wealthy man in and of yourself, and, more 
than that, have married a rich wife : you have plenty, 
Rose is poor ; put a thousand dollars into my hands 
for her use, and I will believe what you say.” 

“ ‘ But how am I to know that she gets it ? I have 
only your word.’ 

“ ‘And that is the word of one who has never told 
you an untruth,’ she replied proudly. 

“ ‘ Pshaw, the word of a ’ — 


118 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


“ ‘ Stop,’ said she in a tone of command : ‘ Henry,’ 
turning to me, ‘ show the gentleman out.’ 

I do not think I could have walked to the door 
but for the look she gave me, — a look which said, 
‘ You are the one to do this. It is justice.’ 

When he had gone, she sat down and laughed till 
the tears rolled down her cheeks, and then, catching 
me in her arms, exclaimed, ‘ W ell, this is turning the 
tables, isn’t it? Woman is not helpless, if she only 
knew her power ; but, by holding us up to our own 
contempt, they take that power from us. 

‘ Yes,’ she continued, ‘if woman only knew her 
power ! Why, if I could get all who occupy a posi- 
tion of shame in this city, if I could get them all 
to feel as I do, we would turn things bottom side up, 
and for the better too. We would have justice, and 
no real harm can come from rendering justice to 
the wronged.’ 

“ I tell you she looked like a queen, when she 
said it,” said Rose, her eyes kindling as she told 
me all this. 

“But who is Minnie’s lover?” I asked: “is he 
another disguise ? ” 

“Minnie’s lover? I have seen none,” she said 
wonderingly. 

I began to suspect who it was, and said, “We 
will go down now: I see Mr. Rockman coming.” 

“ And so you have got Rose back,” was his first 
remark. 

“ Yes, uncle, and I have found the boy who brought 
the note. Do you think I shall succeed as well in 
learning who the lover is ? ” 


A SURPRISE. — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. 119 


, Perhaps : was he any thing like this ? ” taking a 
wig and false whiskers from his pocket. 

You, too,” said Rose starting forward ; Avhile I 
said, ‘‘ I can not tell, sir, till I see them on.” 

I could not imagine how he was going to do this 
with the hair and whiskers he had ; but he did, and 
in such a manner that his own were entirely hidden, 
or only appeared as a slight sprinkling of gray min- 
gling with the glossy brown. 

Rose fairly shrieked with laughter. “And you 
are the gentleman who came in soon after I shut the 
door on Robert Crandall,” she said, as soon as she 
could speak. 

“I was told that Crandall had been there,” he 
replied demurely ; while Rose continued, “ I thought 
it such a pity that so pleasant, kind-looking a gentle- 
man should visit such a place ! And I wondered if 
he had a wife, mother, or sisters, and how they would 
feel if they knew it.” 

“ Oh, ho ! you did, puss ; and what were you doing 
there?” 

“Watching you, sir, and others, gathering infor- 
mation to serve me in the future,” she replied. 

“ There as the friend, and under the protection, 
of the mistress of the house ? ” 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ W ell, make the world believe that you was there 
for any but an evil purpose, if you can.” 

“ I shall not try, my friend,” she said as the tears 
came to her eyes. “ I care but little now what the 
world thinks : if I can only win the approval of my 
own soul by helping to save some poor girl from 
suffering as I h^ve done, I shall be content.” 


120 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘ You may be content with that,” he said ; ‘‘ but I 
shall never be satisfied till I have found means to 
remove the causes that produce such results.” 

‘‘ Perhaps, in doing my work, I may learn some- 
thing that will aid you in what you wish to do ; at 
least, I shall keep my eyes and ears open, and my 
brain thinking. Uncle Rockman.” 

“ I do not undervalue your work, little girl, and 
shall often be near when you little think it, to aid 
you, if need be ; but when, oh ! when, shall the 
problem be solved, the mystery finished, and this 
double dealing cease ? ” he exclaimed ; and a far-off, 
prophetic look came into his eyes, as he laid his hand 
upon Rose’s head, and added, — , 

“ Yes, keep eyes and ears and heart open ; not only 
to what you see around you, but don’t forget to look 
heavenward, for from thence must come your 
strength. My child, God help you ! Amen.” 

‘‘Amen,” we both responded, and from earnest 
hearts ; then there fell upon us the cooling dew of a 
silence, such as those experience who come into con- 
verse with their inner selves. 

“ Why can not we hear God’s voice now ? ” asked 
one who had been reading the Bible account of those 
who talked with him of old. 

“ And so we could, if we could get still enough,” 
was the reply. 

“ Louder than ten thousand thunders 
Is the silent voice of God ; 

Wonderful above all wonders, 

Coming from his blest abode ; 


A SURPRISE. — FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. 121 


While my heart to him is praying 
In a sweet rapportal kiss, 

Up in heaven I hear him saying, 

Trancing all my soul in bliss. 

Come up hither, come up hither.’^ 

It is ever thus : in our calm, silent blendings with 
the unseen, we must gather the strength that will 
be our sheet-anchor in the hour of trial, the strength 
that will enable us to ascend to the hights that are 
above the storm-cloud. 



122 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


CHAPTER VII. 


CHANGED. — TREASONABLE DESIGNS. 



tlT seems to me that you have changed 
wonderfully since I first met you, Mr. 
Rockman,” I said to him a few days 
after the occurrence related in the last 
chapter. 

“ Why do you think that ? Is. it because I allow 
you to have your own way, and put a handle to my 
name when you choose ? ” he asked. 

“ Oh ! that is because you have grown lazy, sir, and 
do not wish to take the trouble to correct me so 
often.” 

Not so very often, madam ; for you do not do it 
only when you forget yourself; but perhaps I am 
yielding somewhat to the friction of life, — smoothing 
off a little. Do you like me any the better for it ? ” 

I can not say that I do, sir. Indeed, I miss those 
startling speeches, and feel as though I had lost 
something.” 

So you prefer lightning let loose to lightning 
harnessed,” he said, with one of his old flashes. 

“ Lightning let loose,” I repeated, not exactly un- 
derstanding what he meant. 

“ Yes, lightning let loose darts along the blackened 
cloud in zigzag lines of brightness, dazzling the eyes 


CHANGED. — TREASONABLE DESIGNS. 


123 


witli its intensity ; but it may prove very destructive, 
and it will do no good to dodge, for you can have no 
idea of where it will hit. Lightning harnessed loses 
this brilliant flash, but follows the track of the wire 
with unerring certainty; still, if designed for that 
purpose, may be far more destructive than before.” 

Oh ! you think it is the brightness, the flash, that 
I miss,” I said. 

‘‘ Well, is it not?” 

‘‘ I had not thought what it was ; but there is cer- 
tainly an exhilaration about a thunderstorm that the 
telegraphic wire can not give, — to me, at least.” 

He looked at me and smiled, repeating, after a 
moment, — 

“ But whether good, or whether bad, 

. Depends on how you take it.’’ 

“ The application, if you please ? ” said I. 

“ Depends upon how you stand related to it, would 
have been better ; for, if you are waiting a dispatch 
that may bring you a message of life or death, I think 
the excitement would be as great, and the interest 
more intense, than could be produced by any ordinary 
storm, even though 

“ The lightning’s flash, and the thunder’s roll. 

Were seen and felt from pole to pole.” 

“ But will you give me the particular application 
of all this to the change in your character ? ” I asked. 

“No change of character, my child; iron is iron, 
whether liquid in the furnace, or molded into ves- 
sels of use. When ‘ God damn this thievish Chris- 


124 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


tian nation,’ burst from my lips, it was the flash of 
the lightning from the overcharged cloud. I mingled 
with the world, and looked upon wrongs that I could 
not redress, till my soul was stirred to a fever heat, and 
must find vent in some manner ; so, being deeply 
religious by nature, my indignation took the form of 
an appeal to God for his curse upon such a state of 
things. Before people understood the use of light- 
ning-rods, when the storm came, they made the un- 
spoken, if not spoken prayer for God’s intervention 
in their behalf ; but now their prayers take an en- 
tirely different form, that of practical work to the 
same end. As I walked in and out among the peo- 
ple an unseen presence went with me, and was ever 
whispering, ‘ Come up to the help of the Lord against 
the mighty. ’ — ” 

“ An unseen presence, Mr. Rockman ? ” said Rose. 

“ ‘Yes, unseen, but still believe me. 

Such a guide my steps attend.’ 

“ Thus I used to sing when I preached for the 
Methodists. I believed it then ; I know it now.” 

You know it now! pray tell us how?” we both 
exclaimed, almost in the same breath. 

He sat a moment in silence. I can not,” he said, 
at length : “ my experience would be no evidence to 
you; you must learn for yourselves; but I have 
found that there is more than one mount of trans- 
figuration, and more than Moses and Elias, of those 
who have gone before, who walk by our sides, and 
give us of their aid.” 

The solemnity of his manner awed us, and we tried 


CHANGED, TREASONABLE DESIGNS, 


125 


to shake off its influence by calling him a Spiritual- 
ist ; but he only replied, Yes, such a Spiritualist as 
J esus was ; we are of the same family, only he is a 
few years older.” 

“ How can you ? ” said Rose, her reverence being 
shocked, in spite of her appreciation of his genuine 
goodness. 

‘‘ How can I speak thus of my brother ? Why not ? 
He called himself our brother, and have I not a right 
to take him at his word ? I tell you we put him too 
far off, — hold him at arm’s length, instead of close 
to our hearts. He is not far away, or his words are 
not correctly reported ; for he said, ‘ If I go, I will 
come again ; ’ and, ‘ Lo, I am with you alway, even 
to the end of the world.’ ” 

‘‘ Yes, unseen, but still believe me.’’ 

Now, if Jesus is here, he is here for a purpose ; 
and he must have agents, both in the seen and in the 
unseen, to aid in carrying out that purpose ; and why 
not use me as well as another ? 

“ But a purpose indicates a plan,” he continued. 
“ Electricity in the overcharged cloud is a force ; 
obedient to the law of the wire it is a power.” 

“Where is the difference between power and 
force ? ” I asked. “ If I force this window open, it is 
because I have the power to do it.” 

“ True. But if you know how to undo the fasten- 
ings, you have the power to open it with a much less 
expenditure of force, of strength.” 

“ I see,” I said, and then waited for him to go on 
with his illustrations. 


12 ^ 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


As I was saying,” he resumed, a purpose indi- 
cates a plan. But the wages of sin is death ; sin is 
the transgression of the law, a lack of coming up to 
its requirements. A perfect thing can not die; is not, 
can not be, condemned, damned. We have not now, 
have never had, a perfect form of society ; no part of 
it is, or has been, constructed according to the per- 
fect law : consequently, it is God-damned, or damned, 
condemned of God. 

“ To have it otherwise would be the most terrible 
thing that could be possible. What ! God sanction- 
ing, accepting, approving an imperfect thing, in the 
final sense of that term ! He may approve as an ex- 
periment.^ may bless us in the experiment; but we 
must not expect to be left alone with the results of 
such experiment till that which is perfect is reached. 
As a nation, we are an experiment,. and a grand one ; 
in that sense the blessing of the Almighty has rested 
upon us in a wonderful manner. 

“ But the experiment is a failure, full of good 
points, but still a failure ; and when I call upon God 
to damn, condemn, cast it aside, that a more perfect 
may take its place, I am really calling for his 
blessing.” 

O Mr. Rockman, what a thinker you are ! ” said 
Rose, drawing a long breath, as though she felt a re- 
lief in thus giving,a partial expression to the intense 
feeling stirred within her ; while my thought was, — 

“ Prophet of God, go on ! ” 

‘‘ A perfect life. The Perfect Good, or God, smiles 
upon an imperfect thing or good, only so long as it 


CHANGED, — TREASONABLE DESIGNS. 


127 


strives to attain to the perfect, reaches higher and yet 
higher, cries out after the good, the God,” said he in 
continuation. The purpose of our brother Jesus in 
remaining with us, as I understand it, is the bringing 
about of a perfect government, a perfect order of 
society ; and he is planning to that end. 

But we must work out our own salvation ; for 
it is God, the good in us, that both wills and does, 
while our forces must be so directed as to become the 
power of God, of our good, unto salvation. Well, 
our brother Jesus, or some other brother of the un- 
seen realm, finds in me a great deal of that element 
which, under certain conditions, becomes sheet or 
chain lightning. It is a good, though evil-spoken of 
while in that form. 

Some messenger sent from God, or the inner good 
of his own being, becomes a Franklin to me, takes 
Minnie as the kite, uses you and Rose here for tail, 
and, drawing the force of this lightning from the 
dark cloud of my ignorance, sets me to organizing it 
as a power with which to execute the before-uttered 
curse. 

‘‘Yes, I am going deliberately to work ; first, to 
find where the imperfection lies, in society and in 
government; then I shall plan for their overthrow, 
and the inauguration of a higher.” 

“ Treason,” said Rose, half in sport and half in 
earnest. 

“ You have undertaken a mighty work, call it trea- 
son or what you will,” I added. 

“ The work that my Father hath given me, shall I 
not do it ? beside, I am only opening the way, am the 


128 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


voice of one crying in the wilderness. Woman must 
eventually lift up her own banner, she must be free, 
ere she can bring forth the power to bruise the ser- 
pent’s head. ‘ The son of the bond-woman’ can not,, 
instead of shall not, be heir with the son of the free- 
woman. 

‘‘Society, government, is to-day the child of the 
bond-woman, and as such must be cast out. Woman 
everywhere is in bondage, is not accorded equal 
rights with man, has not the right even to the use 
of her maternal functions unless hound to some man. 
A 5cmc?-woman, how can she become the mother of 
the sons and daughters of the Lord, the all-powerful, 
the perfect good ? ” 

“ Is not man bound also ? ” I asked. 

“ Most certainly he is : his relations with woman 
are such, that, no matter how much he may think it 
otherwise, she can not be bound without involving 
him. But the year of ‘ full release, of jubilee,’ is on 
its way : it will come, and not tarry, for the Lord of 
hosts hath declared it.” 

“ When do you commence your treasonable cam- 
paign, Mr. Rockman ? ” asked Rose. 

“ I have commenced it, and you have been acting 
as spy, little one,” he replied gayly (he could go 
from the solemn to the playful, or the ridiculous, as 
quickly as a musician can touch the different keys of 
an instrument). 

“ Me a spy ! ” she repeated, holding up her hands 
in mock distress. 

“ Yes, you a spy. For what else were you in the 
parlor of a disreputable house, and dressed as a 
boy?” 


CHANGED. — TREASONABLE DESIGNS. 


129 


‘‘ Oh, oh ! and you have entrapped me into this ! ” 

‘‘Not a bit of it, little one : you went to my chief 
counselor of. your own accord, and without my 
knowledge ; if she persuaded you to enlist, it is not 
my fault.’’ 

“ Of course not, Mr. Rockman ; I never saw a man 
yet who was to blame : Eve did it.” 

“ Take care there, you little rebel,” he said, as she 
snapped her fingers at him, and ran up stairs to her 
room. 

After Rose left, we had some further talk as to 
the course to be pursued ; I, as usual, bringing in 
objections, principally against the deceit practiced in 
appearing in disguise. I could not quite reconcile it 
with my ideas of right. 

“ Society is one mass of deceit now,” I said; “ and 
I can not see the good that can come from doing what 
we condemn, of doing evil that good may come.” 

“ We are not doing evil, but good,” he urged: “ we 
are only gaining a knowledge of the evil, that we 
may know how to overcome it with good ; or, in 
other words, that we may supersede it with good. 
Time was when it would have been sin to me to 
have planned otherwise than for the present order 
of things ; but that time has gone by ; it has been 
weighed and found wanting, and must pass away. 
The ‘ young child ’ that is to take its place is already 
born ; but its life is threatened, will be taken if it is 
not carried into Egypt, is not hidden, covered witli 
darkness, disguise. Egypt signifies darkness.” 

“ You quote Scripture very readily,” I said ; “ but 
you can not convince me, sir, that your application 
is always correct.” 


130 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


Perhaps not, but history only repeats itself. The 
facts of one age become the symbols of the next ; 
while its symbols in turn are to become the facts 
of the coming one on a still grander scale."’ 

Well, well,” said I, despairing of making any 
headway against him in argument, “ do as you think 
best : I am not responsible for your sins or mistakes.” 

‘‘ And you are glad to be free of the load,” he 
responded, laughing at me, as usual when I showed 
annoyance at defeat. 

‘‘You are an enigma tome,” I answered : “you 
make me hold my breath with your lofty flights, 
make me feel as though one of the old prophets had 
returned to earth, and then propose methods of action 
that shock all my previous ideas of right.” 

“Don’t try to solve the riddle, child. 

‘ God is his own interpreter, 

And he will naake it plain.’ ” 

Then, as he generally did when he had wrought 
me up to about such a pitch, he left me to my own 
thoughts. 



CHANGE OF BASE. 


131 


CHAPTER VIIL 

CHANGE OF BASE. 



INNIE has been absent from the city for 
a few days, but when she returns she 
will let me know,” said Rose, in reply 
to a question from me as to what Miss 
Morris was doing ; “ and then I wish you 
would go with me to see her.” 

I would rather not,” I said hesitatingly. 

Who was it that taught me to be brave ? ” she 
asked, looking me searchingly in the eye. 

“But — but,” I stammered. 

“ But, as you have never been trodden under foot, 
you prefer to keep at a distance,” she said bitterly. 

“ Rose, Rose, do not say that ! ” 

“ It is the truth, nevertheless : you have been, you 
are, very kind to me, you urge me to self-respect, tell 
me that the fault was not mine ; and yet, ere you are 
aware of it, you show me that you do not forget, that 
you think it well enough for me to go where it would 
not be quite proper for you.” 

“ But, Rose ” — 

“ I know ; you feel that I have nothing to lose, but 
something to gain ; while you risk your good name, 
and have nothing to gain ; ” and she burst into a 
passion of weeping. “ No, don’t touch me now, I 



132 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


can not bear it,” she said, as I tried to put my arms 
around her : it is not pity I want, but genuine 
respect, and I will have it too, or nothing,” she ex- 
claimed, starting up, and walking rapidly back and 
forth through the room, and then out into the hall, 
with a movement as though she was smothering. 

I had never seen her in such a mood, and knew 
not how to comfort her, and so was silent ; but my 
heart was busy with questionings. Had I indeed 
given the poor child cause to feel thus ? Poor 
child,,'’'’ yes, I saw it now ; in that very term was 
wrapped the pity from which she shrank. 

‘‘ Rose, my dear friend, my sister, you distress me 
beyond measure,” I said at length. 

She came, and laid her head in my lap like a 
wearied child. My best of friends, forgive me ; but a 
wounded spirit is hard to bear, and mine is very sore.” 

I will go with you to see Minnie, or you can 
invite her here,” I said. 

‘‘Will you invite her as one who must come in 
disguise, or as an honored guest whom you can intro- 
duce to your friends ? ” she asked, raising her head. 

“ I should insult my friends by doing that ; not in 
reality, but by trampling on their individual rights,” 
I said, after a moment’s thought. 

“ How ? I can not see that,” she said. 

“ Would you like to have me introduce to you one 
with whom I knew you did not wish to have even a 
speaking acquaintance ? ” I asked. 

“No, I should not.” 

“You would feel that I had done what I had no 
right to do, at least without your consent.” 


CHANGE OF BASE. 


133 


‘‘I should,” she replied. ‘‘I see I was wrong; but 
Minnie is really far nobler than many who scorn 
her.” 

‘‘ I do not doubt it, Rose^ and has self-respect 
enough to rest in that nobility.” 

‘‘ And I will try to have self-respect too, and rest 
in what I am, instead of trying to grasp at what is 
not freely and fully accorded,” she said, throwing 
her arms about my neck. 

I had learned a lesson, and so had she ; so the hour 
was not lost, nor the tears wasted. The next morn- 
ing a note came, telling of Minnie’s return. Rose 
laid it in my hand when she had read it; and I 
asked, Which shall it be ? will you invite her here, 
or shall I go to see her with you?” 

She blushed, laughed, and then said, “I had like 
to have been caught in my own trap. I have always 
gone veiled, and so dressed that I would not have 
been known from dozens of others ; though one 
reason for my doing so was, I feared I should meet 
and be recognized by Robert Crandall.” 

There is no such fear as that in my case,” I said. 

I do not know about that : if he should meet and 
recognize you, and see you enter there, he would be 
sure to use it against you, if he ever found it for his 
interest to do so,” was her reply. 

“Well, I do not see but we shall have to go dis- 
guised after all. Rose.” 

“Wait, I have just thought how we can fix it. I 
will send Minnie word that we are coming to-night ; 
and she will let us in by a private way leading from 
another street, the servants’ entrance.” 

12 


134 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘Do SO,” I said. And that night, for the first 
time in my life, I stood within the house of one 
whose steps, according to Scripture, “take hold on 
hell.” But there is another declaration which says 
of publicans and harlots, “ They go into the kingdom 
of heaven before you,” which indicates that steps 
may take hold on hell, and yet be really nearer 
heaven than are the steps of many who think them- 
selves almost there. 

What kind of a people are we ? What manner 
of country have we ? 

The word of “the Master” is on the lip, the 
places in which they say to worship him point heav- 
enward from valley and hilltop; and yet I have 
known a Christian woman, so called, pay five dollars 
for a toy to amuse her child, while Christians in the 
same city were hungry for bread ; yes, and her 
Christian husband, to keep peace in the family, felt 
it his duty to give his wife that money for that fool- 
ish object, when it would have been his pleasure to 
have given it to that poor, toiling woman whose 
child had not enough to keep it comfortable. 

“ I will not be a woman’s slave,” said a man in my 
hearing not long since. Men are slaves, as well as 
women, under the present order of society. Eben 
Rockman’s words are true, for I find the proof every- 
where. 

Yes, I went to the house of Minnie Morris. I saw 
her boarders in their rich attire, saw the luxury with 
which they were surrounded, and I thought of the 
toiling seamstress in her garret, of honest poverty 
and its reward ; and I felt that a nation calling itself 


CHANGE OF BASE, 


135 


Christian ought to he damned for permitting such 
things to exist. 

But I must cease moralizing, and come to practical 
work, relating first, however, that I had promised 
the ladies of the church I attended, that I would go 
with them the next day to visit some poor families 
who were in need of aid. I told Minnie this ; and 
she promised me a donation from each of the ladies, 
if I would pledge them to expend it myself, instead 
of giving it into the hands of any committee. 

I gave the required pledge, and she collected for 
me thirty dollars. It was expended to good purpose, 
I assure you, dear reader ; and I took good care also, 
that those who were benefited knew who the donors 
were. Perhaps I was a little foolish in this, but I 
like to see justice done even to the Magdalen. 

But, coming to business, Minnie had been to the 
capital of the State, and had made arrangements to 
spend the time there during the session of the legis- 
lature ; and she wished myself. Rose, and Mr. Rock- 
man to be in the city also. ‘‘ My girls are all going,” 
she said : “ they begin to get some idea of Rockman’s 
plans; and they say that they will aid in furnish- 
ing means, so that it will cost you nothing but your 
time.” 

“ I do not see how I can leave for so long,” I said ; 
but the fact was, I rather shrank from taking such a 
step. 

“ Oh, yes, you can ! shut up your house, or let it to 
some one ; I will take it, and pay you well for it, if 
there is no other way. No,” she replied, reading 
my thought,” I do not wish to put any one into it ; 


136 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


and it need not matter to you, if I keep it shut up, 
so that you are paid.” 

I shall not consent to that,” I said ; ‘‘ and it seems 
to me that this is like handling edge-tools.” 

‘‘Well, we must handle edge-tools, if we would 
learn how to use them ; and they are capital in sever- 
ing bonds. If it is information that you need to aid 
in changing this cursed state of things, you Avill 
never have a better opportunity for obtaining it ; and 
as Rockman is your uncle, and Rose your sister, 
you will have nothing to do but board them; that 
is, when my lover and errand-hoy are absent.” 

“ Rose does not look enough like me to pass for my 
sister. Miss Morris.” 

“Well, half-sister, then, or sister’s child.” 

“ I should like that,” said Rose, “ it would be easy 
to call you aunt.” 

“You, madam,” continued Minnie, “need know 
nothing of that infamous creature Minnie Morris ; 
and Rose and your uncle will be other parties alto- 
gether when with me.” 

“ Don’t,” said I, for it hurt me to hear her speak 
so of herself. 

“ That is Avhat the world counts me, madam, and 
it were well to look things squarely in the face ; 
but, when infamy meets infamy, ‘ then comes the tug 
of war ; ’ and Robert Crandall will be there as one 
infamy, for he has been elected representative from 
this district.” 

This last decided me, for I hated Robert Crandall 
as the Devil is said to hate a Christian ; and, if I 
could in any manner aid in bringing home to him 


CHANGE OF BASE. 


137 


what he so richly deserved, I should be more than 
repaid. I am ashamed to own that personal feeling 
had more to do in the matter than the thought of 
the ultimate good to be brought out of all this ; but, 
nevertheless, it is the truth. 

Rockman and Minnie were both above me in this 
respect ; for Rockman was moved only from the 
plane of principle, and Minnie had caught the inspi- 
ration of the idea that even such as she might aid in 
bringing in the universal good. 

And so things were arranged in accordance with 
Minnie’s planning. In a quiet street, away from the 
bustle of business, a few furnished rooms were found, 
of which Mr. Rockman and his took pos- 

session, a younger lady being with them a portion of 
the time, and, when absent, was supposed to be 
away from the city. 

In another portion of the city, Minnie Morris the 
courtesan opened a boarding-house for ladies, which 
was soon filled with an array of beauty, such as 
senators, representatives, judges, and others of high 
position, are not likely to pass unnoticed. True, 
there are exceptions to all rules ; but I am speaking 
in general terms. 

Remember, kind reader, I am not writing to please, 
but to illustrate life as it is ; for, only as we see it 
thus, can we judge of it correctly, and of what steps 
to take to make it better. 

It is folly for us to think that our sons and daugh- 
ters can be saved from the evils which tln*eaten, by 
keeping them in ignorance of what exists ; for ignor- 
ance is the poorest of all safeguards. 

12 * 


138 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


The home of the quiet, staid citizen, and the home 
of the courtesan, — who of all the thronging crowd 
imagined that there was any connection between 
them? Not one. 

Little does that fine-looking senator dream, as he 
pays court to the beautiful woman to whom he has 
just been introduced, that she saw him only the 
night before in the spacious parlor of Minnie 
Morris. 

‘‘One-half at least of the most popular of the 
gentlemen here, I have seen there,’’ Rose thought as 
she looked over the crowd. 

Rose had been into society but little, for she knew 
that Robert Crandall and his proud wife were there, 
and she did not wish to meet them where he could 
recognize her ; at least not till her stay in the city 
was nearly over. 

Several times during the winter she had seen him 
at Minnie’s house, and had the dates, with the record 
of much that she had heard him say, and to whom, 
in her possession. She wished to give him a lesson ; 
but it would not do to have it suspected that there 
was a spy at Minnie’s house ; for every visitor would 
be warned, and the money upon which they 
depended to carry out their plans would be with- 
held. 

“ Man controls the purse, and through it controls 
us,” said Minnie one day, when discussing this ques- 
tion. “ True, we handle a great deal of it ; but we 
must submit to his terms, one of which is, we must 
not betray him. He can betray us. We must be 
public property, and objects of public scorn, in con- 


CHANGE OF BASE. 


139 


sequence ; but he, oh, no I he must not be exposed ; 
we must not even speak to him on the street.” 

‘‘ But woman is beginning to fill places of trust, 
and to command better pay,” I said : “I see many 
of them here and elsewhere acting as clerks ; and I 
find them in telegraph-offices and post-offices, where 
I am told they get good pay ; sufficient, at least, to 
maintain them comfortably.” 

Minnie’s eyes flashed. “ Yes, and who has control 
of such appointments ? Men, to be sure ; and do 
you think that they forget their pockets in this ? I 
tell you no ! A man in office who supports a woman 
for her company can get her a place where she can 
earn her own money, and yet be subject to him. He 
thus saves his money; and, if she dares to refuse 
him, he gets her turned out of her position, and 
another takes her place. 

‘‘ Oh, this cursed money-power ! ” she continued, 
getting up, and walking back and forth like a caged 
tigress. 

But all women who hold such positions are not 
of that class,” I said. 

‘‘ True, they are not ; some of them are daughters 
or sisters, whose fathers or brothers have the influ- 
ence to secure them a place. But what of that? 
They thus lessen their own expenses, and save 
money to spend with us. This is the rule. There 
are exceptions, noble ones, I admit ; but, so long as 
men have the disposal of places where money can be 
made, the tendency is to give them to men, or to 
women, who will serve them, — will serve them by 
doing the same work for less pay, if in no other 
way.” 


140 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


“ I do not see how things are ever to be any bet- 
ter,” said Rose sadly; “for, if what they tell us is 
true, it must go on from bad to worse.” 

“ If what is true ? ” asked Rockman. 

“ If it is true that the condition and surroundings 
of the mother before the birth of the child deter- 
mine its character so far as this life is concerned.” 

“ If that is true,” said Minnie, “ I can not see who 
is to blame for any thing.” 

“ Conditions are to blame,” laughed Rose, and at 
the very absurdity of the idea she had advanced. 

“Conditions have no moral character,” I re- 
marked. 

“ Then why should those acts have, that are the 
result of conditions ? ” she asked with a puzzled 
expression upon her face, as though she hardly knew 
whether to treat the matter seriously or not. 

“ But we make the conditions,” I persisted. 

“ And they in turn make us,” said Rockman ; “ still 
we, as individuals, do not make the conditions which 
control us ; they are made for us ; and we must adapt 
ourselves to them, be ground to the dust by them, 
or overcome for ourselves and others, by making 
better conditions. 

“ The masses of the people never think beyond 
the law of adaptation, that of adapting themselves to 
conditions. Of these but few can succeed ; and the 
others are ground, become grist, are tributary to 
those few. This is because conditions are such that 
the success of one is the failure of half a dozen, per- 
haps more. This of necessity.” 

“But what are we going to do about it? that is 
the question,” persisted Rose. 


CHANGE OF BASE, 


141 


‘‘ That we are trjdng to learn,” he said ; “ and to do 
this it is necessary to get behind the scenes, to learn 
the working of the ropes ; in fact, we must find the 
principle upon which the machine moves, learn the 
natural tendency of that principle ; and, if the evil of 
its workings is the result of ignorance of its proper 
application, then we must set that ignorance before 
the people in such a light that they will see and 
remove it. 

‘‘ But, if the principle itself is wrong, then we 
must seek a principle, that, when applied, will pro- 
duce no such results, and reconstruct accordingly.” 

“ A big job, Mr. Rockman,” said Minnie. 

“ Yes, but we are big folks ; the powers within us 
have but just begun to unfold as yet. As a man 
thinketh, so is he, or she, if it is a woman who 
thinks ; and the first step toward doing a thing is to 
think that we can do it, — to believe that we have 
the power. The next is to look the ground all over, 
within and without. Then, having learned what is 
to be done, and how to do it, we must go to Avork 
with a determination to accomplish the result 
sought. 

‘‘ I have become satisfied that man grows, pro- 
gresses, mentally and spiritually, in the realm of 
mind as applied to matter, and in the realm of mind 
as applied to the moral and the spiritual, j ust in pro- 
portion,, and in the direction,, that he believes in him- 
self, It is the most pernicious of all doctrines, that 
which teaches mankind that there is one single thing 
necessary for the happiness, the perfection of the 
race, that it has not within itself the power of 
attaining to,” 


142 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


“Would you put God out of the universe?” I 
asked. 

“ Indeed J would not, madam ; but we shut him 
away from the race Avhen we claim that he has not 
the power to work out their perfection through 
themselves. God worketh in us.^ is in us ; but we do 
not believe it, do not believe in him, in the I am 
within in ourselves : so we^ail.” 

“ I do not see but you make yourself and God one 
• and the same,” I said. 

“ Then there is at-one-ment, reconciliation ; and I 
am ut peace with him.” 

“ That is not what I mean.” 

“ And what do you mean, madam ? ” 

“I — I — well, perhaps I can not exactly express 
it ; but it seems to me that one does not quarrel 
with one’s self ; and if God is in us, is our essential 
life, then there is, has been, no need of reconcilia- 
tion.” 

“ But we do contend with ourselves ; there are the 
fiercest of conflicts right here within our own beings ; 
and when we find, become reconciled to ourselves, 
then we are at peace with God. No use in talking, 
madam ; I know that you do not believe in Jesus in 
the sense that he has been taught to the people ; 
neither can I say that I do ; but there is a deep mean- 
ing in the words, ‘ I and my Father are one.’ ” 

“ Emmanuel, God with us ; this must become true 
of every soul, — of the race.” 

“It seems to me that we have left business to talk 
theology,” said Minnie. 

“No, Miss Morris, you mistake : we are only pre- 


CHANGE OF BASE. 


143 


paring the way for business. Faith is necessary to 
works ; and we said in the commencement that we 
progress as we believe in ourselves ; and it is true. 
Suppose, now, that you, when Crandall forsook you, 
had had no faith in yourself, had not sensed that, 
though condemned by the world, you could live as 
pure a life in the midst of vice, as others could when 
surrounded by the protection of that society which 
cast 3^ou out, where would you have been now ? ” 

“ Heaven knows ! ” she replied, as the tears 
started. 

‘‘ Look over that life for the }rears that j^ou have 
been thus condemned, and tell me if you know of a 
single soul who has been made worse because of 
you ? ” 

Not one,” she replied with brightening eye, ‘‘ not 
one, but many are better. I have held more than 
one back from the path of sin, who would have been 
destroyed but for my watchfulness ; I have given 
many a dollar to the sick and suffering ; and I have 
counseled those who have boarded with me to be as 
good as conditions would permit ; and never have I 
urged a poor girl to submit to one whom I knew 
was hateful to her because the rules of business 
would have given me an extra dollar thereby ; and 
the only lover I have had since (except yourself, and 
you are bogus) I accepted in the interest of others, 
but could not endure it, so gave him up.” 

Rose and I laughed at this joke on Rockman ; but 
he continued, ‘‘ And you have learned that which, 
if you will use aright, will yet bless the whole world ; 
you have gained a knowledge of the under-currents 
of society.” 


144 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘ Oh, Mr. Rockman, if I could only believe it! ” 

‘‘ I told you we had not forgotten business,” he 
continued ; ‘‘ and now I must go on showing that 
self-belief is faith in God, that only in the direction 
in which we believe in ourselves do we succeed. 
Self-belief, that which is genuine, compels belief 
from others.” 

“ This is quite contrary to the teachings we have 
received,” said Minnie thoughtfully. 

And what have our teachings brought us ? Look 
about you, and see the condition of society. In 
the direction in which man has believed in himself, 
in the promptings of the God within, he has suc- 
ceeded. Our achievements are grand ; our steam- 
boats, railroads, telegraphic lines, telescopes, our 
wonderful machinery that takes the place of hand- 
work, all tell the same stoiy. We send our messages 
under the sea, we go through the hearts of the 
mountains, we measure the stars, we chase up the 
comets in their flight, — all this, and much more ; 
and why ? 

“ Simply because we have believed that we had 
the power to do it. Jesus said, ^ All power is given 
me.’ He was our brother i remember that , — our 
brother. 

I say we have succeeded gloriously in the direc- 
tion that self-belief has compelled action. Not one 
of the achievements we have named would ever have 
been accomphshed had there not been a belief in its 
possibility first. I do not say that all believed : far 
from it ; the masses did not believe ; they opposed. 
They could not believe till the idea was made mani- 


CHANGE OF BASE. 


145 


fest, actualized, born into matter. Only those to 
whom God had whispered the idea could believe 
without seeing. 

‘‘ And they must work it out for themselves ; the 
God who whispered it to the ears of their inner 
consciousness working through their own powers.” 

Any one would know, to hear you talk five min- 
utes, that you had been a preacher. Uncle Rockman,” 
said Rose, with a smile and manner which showed 
her interest in what he was saying, and at the same 
time indicated a desire to catch breath, to rest from 
the weight of the thoughts that were being ex^ 
pressed. 

And you thus make me remember, little Rose, 
that there is another side to this question, — the side 
in which man has not believed in himself ; and that 
is the moral, the spiritual side. We have been taught 
to believe that on this side of ourselves we were 
totally depraved ; that we could not do a good deed, 
or think a good thought, without God’s help. God 
must do this work for us ; we could do nothing. 

What has been the result, friends ? What has 
been the result. Rose, Minnie, and you, my fair mon-- 
itor, who in your goodness of heart have so often 
tried to soften and polish my rough, hard, abrupt 
ways ? J ust what might have been expected under 
such teachings. We are so mean, so low, so hypo- 
critical, so utterly false as a people, that it some- 
times makes me blush to think that I am human. 

‘‘ Great God ! ” he exclaimed, rising, and walking 
rapidly back and forth, his tall form stooping, his 
hands behind him, and his head dropped forward 
13 


146 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


upon his heaving chest, as though grief and shame 
were well-nigh crushing him. For several minutes 
he continued his rapid motion, till finally his step 
grew slower ; the look of shame and agony disap- 
peared, giving place to one of the proud conscious- 
ness of power, as he added, — 

‘^But God, the Lord God of Eben Rockman, has 
whispered it to his soul, that these things need not 
be ; that the complicated machine called society is 
constructed upon a false principle ; that it must be 
replaced by something better ; that there must be a 
new heaven and a new earth, in which shall dwell 
righteousness, or right conditions ; and to this end, 
Minnie, Rose, all of you, are aiding me to investi- 
gate the present structure, that its weak points may 
become apparent ; for, by the Eternal ! it must die ; 
the sinful, the accursed thing ! it must die, that the 
reign of righteousness may commence.” 

The terrible earnestness with which he uttered 
these words thrilled, awed us, till silence seemed 
the natural expression of our feelings ; but at length 
Minnie broke it by saying, — 

‘‘We have come to business, at length.” 

“ And enough of it,” I added. 

“ And time enough to do it in,” said Rockman. 

“ I do not know about that ; it seems to me that 
one short life is hardly sufficient for the commence- 
ment of such a work, to say nothing of completing 
it,” I said. 

Rockman turned upon me a luminous, question- 
ing gaze. “ What do you mean by one short life ? ” 

“ The few years that we can remain here on earth, 
of course.” 


CHANGE OF BASE. 


147 


“ And where are you going then, pray ? ” he con- 
tinued, with the same look. 

“ I do not know, sir ; wherever God sends me, I 
expect.” 

‘‘I expect to stay here,” he said slowly, — ‘‘here 
upon the earth upon which I came into mortal exist- 
ence. It is my home ; and I intend to spend some 
part, at least, of eternity in making it beautiful. 
Those who have left our sight, and those who are 
here, are yet to be one family, to be re-united, — 
made one ; the at-one-ment for which we all pray. I 
shall stand at the latter day upon earth, ‘ and in my 
jlesh.i’ says Job.” 

“ You do not believe in the literal resurrection of 
the body ? ” I asked. 

“ I believe in resurrection of all things, my friend ; 
all things that go down come up again in some form: 
A recent poet says of one who was called dead, — 

‘ Look for blossoms with fairer hues, 

When earth shall smile into bloom once more ; 
Search in the bright-eyed pansy’s face, 

For richer tints than ever before. 

Stars will bud in the sober moss ; 

For Nature will stretch her floral laws, 

And add new links to the primitive chain 
Of producing forces, only because 
Of all this brightness gone to the ground. 

The beauty that faded into a blank 

Must burst into blossom again, somewhere, — 

All this beauty gone to the ground.’ 

“And I believe it, feel, know, that it must be so. 


148 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


Why is it that we die, so they call it ; why is it that 
we drop these bodies? I will tell you. It is be- 
cause there is no harmony between them and our 
spirits ; the matter of which they are composed is 
not fine enough for us. They are better adapted to 
the outside coarseness; but that is too coarse for 
them ; we must protect ourselves from without ; and 
yet this double friction, that from within cutting 
away the links, as the diamond severs bars of steel, 
or scratches the hardest glass, and that from without 
filing and grinding like sand, — these two steal away 
the forces, the strength of the body, like two 
thieves ; and between them it bows its head, and 
gives up the ghost, or spirit. 

But ‘ our God is a refining fire ; ’ matter sub- 
mitted to this refining process gives us 

“Blossoms of fairer hues, 

Kieher tints than ever before ; 

‘‘ And finally matter will become so refined that the 
spirit can draw to itself a body suited to its needs. 
Then there shall be no more death ; for the former 
things will have passed avray, and all things will 
have become new.” 

‘‘ And you think when time comes, that we can 
clothe ourselves again with material bodies, and hold 
them ? ” asked Rose. 

‘‘We can not help it,” he replied : “ it will cling to 
us as the magnet attracts steel, will clothe our spirits 
in forms of eternal beauty, will give us eyes whose 
luminous depths are like stars ; lips 


CHANGE OF BASE. 


149 


‘ Full to wasting with honeyed bliss, — 

Lips that it were never a sin 
For anybody to wish to kiss.’ 

‘‘ Why ! the gray-haired earth will herself grow 
young again, when the work to which we, acting in 
harmony with the divine within us, — the work 
which we have set ourselves to do, — is completed.” 

“Don’t,” said Minnie, drawing a long breath: 
“ you will carry us so far away that we shall never 
get back again.” 

“No danger; business will bring us back. We 
must help to refine a great deal of matter yet, in the 
way of eating, drinking, and wearing. The practi- 
calities of life hold us to the actual while they still 
carry us forward toward the ideal.” 

“ If wearing has any thing to do with the work we 
have undertaken, I can come to the practical with- 
out the least difficulty,” said Rose; “fori must 
decide what to wear to the next and last ball of the 
season.” 

“ From immortal bodies to a ball-dress ! ” I ex- 
claimed. “ Well, I have heard people tell of going 
from the sublime to the ridiculous, but I never saw 
it exemplified before ; and it has shocked my breath 
nearly out of me, the transition was so sudden.” 

Rose laughed, and sang, — 

“ One more unfortunate 
Gone to her death,” 

and then, “ Minnie, what shall I wear ? ” 

“ Let me see what you have, and then I can tell 
you if you need any thing new,” she replied. 

13 * 


150 NOTHING LIKE it. 

Come, then, and I will show you; ” and Rose run 
off to her room followed by Minnie, while I turned 
to Rockman with, — 

‘‘ Are you going to leave here without confronting 
that villain ? ” 

To what villain do you refer ? there are so many 
here, one needs something more definite.’’ 

You know very well that I mean Crandall,” I 
replied, nettled at his coolness ; for I cared more just 
then to humble Robert Crandall, than I did about 
what seemed to me Rockman’s chimeras. 

I liked his enthusiasm, it is true, and especially 
when I saw it manifested in any practical work of 
to-day ; but his plans and anticipations for the future 
were all too vague, too dreamy, for me. I could wish 
they might come true, but I saw no way to make 
them so, and I could not puzzle myself over them ; 
but I did see a way to strike a hard but just blow at 
the one who had so wronged Rose, and I ached to do 
it. 

- Rockman smiled, as he read my feelings from my 
telltale face, and said, ‘‘We will try to gratify you, 
you desire it so much.” 

“ To gratify me ! ” 

“Yes, you seem to take more interest in his par-* 
ticular wickedness than in that of any other single 
individual.” 

“ I do not understand it,” I said, “ how Rose and 
Minnie can keep so cool about him.” 

“ Minnie’s boarders have a right to choose their 
own company, and so she can not very well avoid 
meeting him frequently ; and Rose has borne her part 


CHANGE OF BASE. 


151 


like a martyr. It has not been considered politic to 
attack him. Rose, as you know, has not been to 
any public gathering but once since she has been in 
the city. She would not have gone then, only she 
heard Crandall say, the night before, that he could 
not attend, as circumstances made it necessary for 
him to be absent.” 

“ Yes, I know that too ; but how about this ball ? 
Will he be there, and will she confront him ? ” I 
asked, my impatience getting control. 

She will not shrink from meeting him.” 

“Then I shall go too, for I want to see them 
meet,” said I, starting up as though I must com- 
mence getting ready that very moment. 

“Would you like to have me attend you, dressed 
in the disguise of Minnie’s lover? ” he asked. 

“I — Ido not care; anyway, so that I can see 
him abashed.” 

“ I am going with Rose in that character, and we 
can all go together then,” he said. 

The ball came off according to notice, and was 
counted a brilliant affair. I took Mr. St. John’s, to 
wit, Mr. Rockman’s arm ; and Rose made the rounds 
of the room with Senator Dillenough. We, St. 
John and I, managed to get very near to where 
Robert Crandall was standing, when I asked loud 
enough for him to hear me, — 

“ Who is that beautiful lady with Senator Dille- 
nough ? ” 

“Some new face, I think,” said St. John, after a 
moment : “we shall find out presently ; let us get 
^ nearer to them.” 


152 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


I saw Robert Crandall’s eyes follow mine as I 
indicated Rose. He did not seem to recognize her, 
but yet he could not keep his eyes off her. ‘‘ Where 
have I seen that face ? ” he said to the gentleman to 
whom he was talking. 

It is well to pretend that you have seen her 
before ; it serves as an excuse for your evident admi- 
ration : but it will not do ; I must seek out Mrs. 
Crandall, and tell her to be on her guard,” replied 
the gentleman, laughing. 

“ And thus give her to understand that you think 
her hold upon me so weak, it may possibly break ; 
you dare not insult her thus,” retorted Crandall in 
the same playful manner ; and then his eyes turned 
again toward Rose. A set was being formed for 
dancing, and she and the Senator led. I watched 
Crandall, and he watched her. 

As soon as she was seated, he sought the Senator, 
and requested an introduction. I was near Rose 
now, and where I could see both their faces as they 
met. She saw him coming, and knew that he had 
not yet recognized her. Her cheek paled and then 
flushed, while her eyes fairly flashed. 

‘‘ Miss Barron, allow me to introduce to you the 
Hon. Mr. Crandall from ” — 

The gracious Senator was startled out of his polite 
bow with, — 

Excuse me, sir, I do not allow it,” casting at 
the* same time a look upon Crandall, that well might 
be termed a haughty stare. 

I saw by the flash of intelligence upon Cran- 
dall’s face that recognition came with the name ; but. 


CHANGE OF BASE. 


153 


when she so thoroughly ignored him, he was white 
with rage. He opened his lips to speak, and I saw 
he meant mischief. St. John laid his hand upon 
Crandall’s arm, and whispered, 

‘‘ Not a word, or you will regret it.” 

‘‘ I see it all now ; you brought her here ; you are 
Minn Morris’s lover, and it is some of her doings. 
I knew them both long ago,” replied Crandall in an 
undertone. There was too much at stake for him to 
make an open charge against Rose, though in his 
rage it was what he would have done, had he not 
been prevented by the words of St. John. 

“ I am not Miss Morris’s lover, never was. Things 
are not always what they seem,” was the reply. 

“Who in God’s name are you, then? ” 

Come this way, and I will show you.” 

Crandall was only too glad to get away from the 
questioning eyes around him, and he followed St. 
John into the ante-room. It was empty: enough of 
the disguise was removed to show the face of Eben 
Rockman to the astonished gaze of the Hon. Mr. 
Crandall. 

“ You ! ” he said. 

“ Me,” replied Rockman. “ I have long known of 
the course you pursued toward Rose Barron years 
since, Robert Crandall ; and, if you dare to throw 
out one insinuation against her, it will be the worse 
for you. We have planned to some purpose, and 
we can not allow you to defeat us because you have 
met with a just rebuke in public.” 

“We? ” said Crandall questioningly. 

“Yes, Rose, Minnie, and I. You thought I was 


154 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


there as Minnie’s lover ; and you thought it strange 
sometimes, that she allowed her waiting-boy in the 
parlor so much. Ha, ha ! ” 

Crandall started. “ And was that boy a cheat 
too ? Upon my soul, I believe it was Rose.” 

Again that ‘‘Ha, ha ! ” from Rockman. 

“ I will raise hell itself, but I will be revenged,” 
said the now thoroughly excited man. 

“ You can not alarm me any there,” said Rockman ; 

“ for I am in league with hell, and, when I find such 
fellows as you, can deal it out in doses to suit.” 

“ I always thought that you were the Devil’s self, 
notwithstanding your wonderful talk about the 
world’s wickedness, and all of that; but I never 
expected to hear you own as much,” replied Cran- 
dall. 

“You mistake, young man. I said nothing about 
the Devil: I simply asserted that I was in league 
with hell ; and so I am with what will make your 
hell till you change your course of conduct. Fire 
burns ; and our God is a consuming fire to those who 
wfill not accept him as a refiner. I am at peace, con- 
sequently in league with him, and am ready to 
accept a little job of scorching when he gives me i 
such work to do.” ■ 

Baffled beyond the power of words to reply, Cran- 
dall turned and left the room ; and Rockman replaced 
his disguise, and returned to the side of Rose, who ^ 

had already said to Senator Dillenough, “ Had Mr. j 

Crandall recognized me, he would not have dared to \ 
approach me ; for he knows full well that he offended 1 
years ago beyond all hopes of forgiveness.” \ 


CHANGE OF BASE, 


155 


“ And do you think he recognized you when you 
spoke ? ” asked the senator. 

‘‘ I think the name and my manner of meeting 
him told him all ; indeed, I am certain they did. 
But with your permission I will introduce a friend.” 

Most certainly, Miss Barron, as I know of no 
one who has offended me beyond the power of for- 
giveness.” 

Rose colored, but took no further notice of the 
remark, and quietly introduced Rockman as Mr. St. 
J ohn. 

Senator Dillenough received him’ as though they 
had never met before ; and Rose wondered if the cool 
self-possession of the man of the world would forsake 
him if he knew that she saw them in conversation at 
Minnie’s house the week before. 

Rockman smiled a quiet smile as he thought of 
the time when Crandall would tell this same senator, 
and others who had been frequent visitors at the 
same place, of the trap that had been laid for them. 
He did not expect to keep Crandall’s mouth shut 
long ; but he was determined that no breath of scan- 
dal should touch Rose that night, and the next day 
they, Minnie and all, would be far away. 

I was to return to my old home ; but the others 
had other plans laid, other work to do. 



156 


NOTHING LIKE IT. . 


CHAPTER IX. 

SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 

WAS at home again, and alone. Rose, 
with her sad smile, was not there ; 
Minnie never tripped up the back 
stairs disguised as the poor seamstress 
whose children needed the bread that 
her hands could earn ; and, when the bell rang, I 
had no hopes of seeing my eccentric friend Eben 
Rockman. dreamed of them often at night, and 
the mail brought me frequent letters ; but this could 
not supply the lack that I felt, or only in part. 

What should I do to occupy my time, to quiet 
my restlessness ? One day, for want of I knew not 
what, I took up the big Bible. Years before, I had 
read it much ; but there came a time when I felt that 
I must lay it aside. I could not understand why, 
but I could take no interest in its contents. I 
grieved that it was so ; and then a something made 
me feel that the time would come when a new light 
would be shed upon its pages, and that till then I 
must rest content to have it closed against me. 

In time, I lost my reverence for it as a sacred 
book. That there were grand truths therein, I did 
not doubt; and so there was in other books. I 
would accept truth wherever found ; and so years 



SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 


157 


had passed in which I had seldom looked into the 
Bible. But now, as I turned its pages, I saw a new 
and deep meaning to much that I found there. But 
one thing more than any other impressed itself upon 
me, and it was this: the texts, passages, many of 
them, that I had been taught to understand as refer- 
ring to another life, seemed to me now to belong par- 
ticularly to this ; and still another point was, much 
that had been supposed to refer to the individual 
man, that man being Jesus, the Christ, the Son of 
man, &c., seemed to me now to refer to collective 
man, to nationalities, forms of government, &c. 

I confess to a difficulty in separating that which is 
literal and that which is symbolic in its meaning ; 
but it has been my fortune in my search after knowl- 
edge to meet with some of the writings of Emanuel 
Swedenborg, for whoin his followers claim a won- 
derful power ; and he compares the human family to 
one grand man, the atoms of which are individual 
men. 

It is as if a pyramid were constructed of stones, 
each of which was in pyramidal form. 

I am certain of this, however : whatever interpre- 
tation may be given to the symbols and mysticisms 
of that book, there is no one thing so well calculated 
to stimulate the religious mind to mental action as is 
this very mixing-up of the literal and the symbohc. 
Indeed, much therein seems to be double in its 
meaning, presenting first a literal, and then a sym- 
bolic or representative side. 

I might go still farther, and say that we have the 
individual, the national, and the world meaning ; and 


158 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


these repeating themselves throughout the realms of 
the universal. 

Recognizing this law in scriptural interpretation, I 
found it the same old book, and yet a new one. 

Perhaps there is no one book of the Bible that has 
been studied so much within a few years, in refer- 
ence to its prophetic significance, as has the Book of 
Daniel; and, true to the spirit which has induced 
others to do this, I began to study it also. While 
doing this, I came across an obscure publication, 
which professed to give some new ideas in reference 
to what is written in that book. 

I did not know as to the validity of the writer’s 
claim, but I did know that I had never seen the same 
ideas elsewhere. This writer’s name, strange to say, 
was Daniel also ; but he had the addition of the 
uncommon title of Jones, which, I believe, is not a 
Bible name. This man Daniel had also an initial T. 
between the first and last division of his name, and 
he does not tell us for what it stands ; but as he 
claims to be a theocrat, or God-sent man, perhaps 
that is the significance of the T. 

But there is another strange character mixed up 
with this publication ; one the last portion of whose 
name analyzed would make him the son of NicJc^ 
instead of God. 

Well, these two men claim that the following pas- 
sage from the Book of Daniel, — 

“ I saw in the night visions ; and, behold, one like 
to the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,” 
&;c, — these men claim that the one like to the Son 
of man, above spoken of, is a nation, a government. 


SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES 


159 


The preceding kingdoms, or nations, they claim, are 
spoken of as beasts ; that step by step the nations 
have progressed till our United States stands upon 
its feet as a man ; has a man’s heart, a man’s body, 
but its head is that of a beast. 

Or, that the people, the body, have progressed 
beyond the government, or head. Well, thought I 
as I read, whatever these two men may be, — and one 
of them says of himself that he lay in the tomb, to 
wit, a lunatic asylum, three months instead of days, 
— whatever they may be in and of themselves, their 
interpretation of scripture looks as reasonable as that 
of any D. D. ; and, as to the governmental head of 
this nation, if it is no better, so far as the men of 
which it is composed is concerned, than are the men 
I found at the capital of the State, as its representa- 
tive head, then the beast-interpretation is certainly 
very applicable. 

I studied a while longer over the theories of these 
men, but finally concluded to wait and get Eock- 
man’s idea of their views ; going on, the while, with 
my Bible-reading, and thinking my own thoughts in 
reference to the meaning of its different passages as 
they particularly impressed me. 

One day, I was honored with a call from the 
minister, the Rev. Mr. Berrian. For four success- 
ive years he had been the pastor of the church 
where I generally attended, if I could be said to 
attend any church ; for I will own I did not go very 
regularly. There were two reasons for this : one 
was, I could see no harmony between preaching and 
practice ; and another was, I did not believe in the 


160 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


prevailing theology, and, being quite combative, it 
was not pleasant for me to listen to what to me was 
error. 

I do not wish the reader to class me as a barba- 
rian, however ; for I believed in doing justly, and 
loving mercy; and, as to walldng humbly, I am not 
so sure about that, and especially if humbly means 
submissive. I was rebellious in my feelings. I was 
not content with things as they were, nor very 
patient under the workings of what the most of 
people thought could not be cured. 

The fact was, I did not then, do not now, believe 
in “ I can’t.” I believed that the difficulty lay more 
in the lack of will, than in the lack of power. 

I was surprised, and rather pleased, to see Mr. 
Berrian ; for, since I had been deprived of my com- 
bats with Rockman, I was, to use a vulgar phrase, 
‘‘ spoiling for a fight.” The Bible was lying open 
before me, and he made it a point from which to 
commence conversation. 

“ I am glad, madam, to find you reading that 
blessed book.” 

(Perhaps the reader would like to know who I 
am. I am a woman who has loved and lost, and 
that is all I choose to tell you.) 

‘‘I was looking over it to pass away time,” I 
replied. 

I am sorry to hear you speak so lightly of it ; I 
had hoped that you found it a source of consola- 
tion,” was his very grave comment. 

‘‘ I find consolation, sir, in whatever helps me to 
pass my time profitably.” 


SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 


161 


“ Yes, if it helps you to pass your time profitably,” 
he said; “ but to read the Bible simply to pass one’s 
time hardly indicates profitable reading.” 

‘‘ Perhaps not, Mr. Berrian ; but I could not 
pass time, unless obliged to do so, with that which 
did not interest me ; and, if a thing interests me, 
there is a good to me in it.” 

He seemed surprised at the turn T had given to 
what he intended as a clerical reproof, and said, 
“ Your reasoning is quite conclusive, and, when 
applied to things in general, is admirable ; but it 
seems to me that the Bible, the book of books, God’s 
holy word, should be treated somewhat differently.” 

“ And I, sir, regard all that can bless me, whether 
in or out of the Bible, as God’s word, God’s blessing 
to me. Can you tell me, sir, why it is that people 
intrepret the Bible so differently ? ” 

Because they bring their own human knowledge 
to bear upon it, instead of waiting for the Spirit of 
God to shine upon its pages,” was his ready reply. 

I laughed. “ Excuse me, sir, I do not wish to be 
rude or trifling ; but, so far as my experience goes, 
of all self-sufficiency, I have found that which claims 
to be taught of God, the most so,” I said. 

He colored at this, but asked, “ How can man 
understand God’s word, unless God’s Spirit teach 
him ? ” 

And I replied by saying, ‘‘ How can God teach 
man except through the powers he has given him ? ” 

“ You mean carnal reason, I presume,” he said. 

“ Is not God all and in all ? ” I asked. 

To this he could but give assent; and I contin- 


162 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


ued, Then he must touch creation at all points, 
have a supply for all needs. This being true, each 
individual will find in the Bible that which corre- 
sponds to his own needs, his own degree of develop- 
ment ; and he would do this if any other book were 
given to him as God’s word, he having been taught 
to look to it for instruction and consolation in the 
same wa}^ that he has been taught to look to that 
book ; and why ? Because God is in all things ; and, 
wherever we look for him, there we find him. 

‘ The heart of the rosebud pineth 
In darkness yet a while, — 

Pines till its own expanding 
Catches the sunlit smile 
That gladdens everywhere ; 

No more, no more in darkness. 

For light is everywhere; 

Then pine, soul, till you learn it, 

That God is everywhere.’ ” 

His face had expressed his dissent from my posi- 
tions very strongly, till I came to the poetry ; and 
then another chord of his nature seemed touched, 
and his first words were, Where did you find those 
lines?” 

In the scrap-book of one the world calls infidel,” 
I replied. 

Selected ? ” 

‘‘ No, sir : original.” 

“ ‘ No more, no more in darkness, 

For light is everywhere; 

Then pine, soul, till you learn it, 

That God is everywhere,’ ” 


SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES, ^ 163 

he repeated ; and then added, ‘‘ I care not what the 
world says : the one who wrote those lines has been 
taught of God.” 

The man, the soul within, had for the moment 
got the better of his theology. He had come in a 
minister ; I had made a man of him, and the man was 
the best of the two. I sometimes think I was born 
to be on the opposite side ; had he come to me 
simply as a man, a friend, I should probably have 
done something to have thrown him upon his minis- 
terial dignity ; but, as it was, I had accomplished 
just the reverse. 

After this, I got along beautifully ” with him ; no 
more ministerial tones to provoke my opposition, but 
the friendliness of a brother. Together we turned 
the pages of the Bible, and discussed the meaning of 
the different passages, sometimes agreeing, some- 
times differing ; but, as there was no more assumption 
on his part, there was no occasion for self-assertion 
on mine. 

He called frequently after that, and one day we 
took up the Book of Daniel for discussion. I had 
just pointed to the passage that says, one like to the 
Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, 
when I was surprised by a visit from Mr. Rockman. 
I had not expected him for several weeks yet. 

“Haven’t forgotten your old uncle, child?” he 
said as I met him in the hall. 

“Not at all ; but the minister is here, and we are 
studying the Bible together. Come in and be intro- 
duced.” 

“ Will wonders never cease ? of course I will.” 


164 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


“ Young man,” said Rockman as soon as the intro- 
duction was over, ‘‘ I used to study that book, and 
preach to the people ; but I have laid the book of 
printed matter aside, and gone to studying God’s 
word as written in the human heart ; and, the more 
I learn, the more I find I don’t know.” 

Have laid the Bible aside, Mr. Rockman ? ” 
said Mr. Berrian in surprise. 

Yes, as seed sown upon good ground that must 
have time to grow. Many of its passages enlarge 
upon me as I go in and out among the people, like 
to wells of water springing up into everlasting life ; 
passages that have taken root, sir, and do not need 
to be reset and tended continually.” 

‘‘ But here is a passage, uncle, that I want you to 
look at,” said 1. 

He read it, and asked, What of it ? I have 
preached from that very text scores of times.” 

But did you ever think that the one like unto 
the Son of man ’ was intended to represent a form 
of government ? ” 

He started as though a new thought had struck 
him, and forcibly too : No. Where did you get 
that idea?’ 

‘‘No matter where I got it ; tell me what you 
think of it.” 

“ Think ? why, I do not know ; yes, why not ? The 
term ‘ beasts ’ is used to represent earthly govern- 
ments that perish ; and why should not ‘ one like to 
the Son of man, represent a form of government that 
shall endure ? I will think of that.” 

“ But I have something more, uncle ; the writer 


SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 


165 


who suggests this idea says that governments have 
progressed till we have here in our own country one 
with the body of a man, the people being the body, 
and the head of a beast, the government being the 
head.” 

He looked at me a moment in silence, and then 
said, ‘‘ I must think into this matter ; I may here 
find the key to what I am seeking.” 

Mr. Berrian seemed equally interested, but was 
inclined to give it, the government, into the hands of 
the saints of the Most High, or to the church. 

‘‘ Pretty saints we find in the church,” said Rock- 
man. 

‘‘But they are not all bad, Mr. Rockman,” said 
the minister. 

“ No, they are not: many of them are most excel- 
lent people. But I have found outside of all churches, 
outside of the pale of society even, better saints than 
I ever found in the church ; yes, J esus told the truth 
when he said, ‘ Publicans and harlots go into the 
kingdom of heaven before you.’ ” 

“ I believe that, Mr. Rockman.” 

“ You say that you do, sir ; you think that you 
do : but with God in the Constitution, as you church 
people are working for, such would have little 
chance here on earth.” 

“ They would have the chance to repent and be 
saved the same as now, Mr. Rockman.” 

“ We are not talking of a salvation that fits for 
another state of existence, but of a place in this 
that will give us a chance for hfe. I tell you, Mr. 
Berrian, God never transcends the governing law ; 


166 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


and, were he to take possession of a beast’s head, he 
would be forced to act through a beast’s head and in 
a beastly manner. 

‘‘ I believe the man this lady speaks of is right. 
Our national head is constructed in the form of a 
beast’s head. We have the animal, the lower brain 
organs represented in our national structure ; but the 
higher organs are not there, in organized form I 
mean.” 

‘‘And is that the sense in which your author 
means that governments are formed after the pattern 
of the beast ? ” asked Mr. Berrian, turning to me. 

“ It is, sir, though I had not thought to speak of 
it ; and now it is not necessary, for Uncle Rockman 
has caught the idea, and I am certain that he will 
follow it to its legitimate conclusion,” I replied. 

“ And I shall be glad to share in that investiga- 
tion. I am heartily glad that I have made your 
acquaintance,” said Mr. Berrian, bowing to us both; 
“ for jou have given me more food for thought than 
I have gathered from my entire congregation for the 
last two years.” 

“You will not find the goats all on the outside, 
nor all the sheep inside, of church walls,” said Rock- 
man. 

“ I presume not,” he replied, “ but I must bid you 
Good-day.” 

And I was glad to have him go, for I wanted to 
ask after Rose and Minnie. 


FURTHER ADVENTURES. 


167 


CHAPTER X. 

’ FURTHER ADVENTURES. 

HAT brought you back so soon?” I 
asked, as soon as Mr. Berrian had 
gone. ‘‘ I was not expecting you for 
a month yet ; and how are Rose aod 
Minnie?” 

“ One question at a time, please : the Lord told 
me to come.” 

“ The Lord told you to come ! Now, Mr. Rockman, 
will you please tell me . what you mean by that ex- 
pression ? I have heard you use it before, and I can 
not understand why you say it.” 

You, with the Bible open before you, do not 
know any thing of the God within ? have you never 
yet been still enough to hear his voice, or her 
voice ? ” 

“ Her voice ? ” I repeated. 

‘‘ Why do you repeat my words ? Yes, her voice. 
The book says God made man in his own image, 
male and female ; now, why is it not just as proper to 
say ‘ her voice,’ as ‘ his voice ’ ? Indeed, in my case, 
I think it Avould be her voice ; in yours, perhaps his 
voice.” 

I wish you would tell me what you mean,” I 
said in an impatient tone. 




168 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘ I mean this, my child : there is a side of us 
which is related to, touches the unseen world ; a side 
so different in its action from that which connects us 
with this busy, bustling life, that we haidly know of 
its existence. Now, if we are in God’s image, double, 
male and female in our very natures, then this inter- 
nal self will be opposite in this respect to the exter- 
nal ; and this internal self is, or should be, the 
controlling power, the focalizing center, of the infi- 
nite as our God.” 

So it is an inner feeling that prompts you to do 
or not to do a thing, for which at the time you can 
give no reason, that you call the voice of God.” 

‘‘ Precisely,” he replied, and then asked, “ But 
what about Rose and Minnie ? have you forgotten 
them in your search after my God ? ” 

‘‘You said one question at a time, sir; and I 
thought I would get at the bottom meaning of this 
one before I took up the other ; unless, indeed, it is 
like a certain pit we read of, bottomless; but, if you 
are ready to tell me, I shall be glad to hear about 
Rose and Minnie.” 

“ Sharp for a woman who has been visiting with 
the minister,” he retorted. 

“ Yes ; but what about Rose and Minnie ? ” 

“ Oh ! I left them well.” 

“ But when am I to see them again ? ” I asked. 

“ That I can not tell you, little woman.” 

“ When and where did you leave them ? ” I contin- 
ued, for there was a look of mischief in his eye which 
showed me there was something that he was waiting 
to tell. 


FURTHER ADVENTURES, 


169 


“ I left them about an hour before you saw my 
genial face, and about ten miles from here, at a little 
railroad village called Iris. There ! I have answered 
two questions, and without stopping : have you an- 
other to propose ? ” 

“ Yes : how long do they remain there ? ” 

“ That I can not exactly tell he glanced at the 
clock as he said this, and I exclaimed, — 

“ They are coming here ! ” 

“ How do you know that ? ” he asked. 

‘‘ Oh, the Lord told me ! ” 

‘‘Well, I guess he has told you the truth this 
time. I believe they intend to come up on the 
evening train, and that will be here about seven 
o’clock.” 

“ And you have kept this back all this time,” I 
said, going to him and shaking him, in the exuber- 
ance of my joy. 

“ Don’t be too much elated,” said he ; “ for if your 
new acquaintance, the minister, should learn that the 
notorious Minnie Morris visited you, he might faint 
at the thought of such contamination ; at least, he 
would never turn the leaves of the Bible with you 
again.” 

“ Hang the minister I ” said I. “ Minnie is worth 
a dozen of him, is nearer the kingdom now than he 
is.” 

Rockman laughed. “ You are really improving, 
child; but I wouldn’t hang the minister ; that is the 
poorest use to which a man can be put.” 

“ It is strange, uncle, that you can not hear more 
correctly. A man who shows so little of the infirmi- 


170 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


ties of age ought to understand better than that.” 
I said this Avith the utmost gravity, and then laughed 
heartily at the surprised look upon his face. 

What do you mean ? ” he asked. 

I said nothing about hanging the man : it was 
the minister I spoke of. Did Eben Rockman die 
when he crucified his ministership ? ” 

“ Why, puss ! ” said he, a light breaking over his 
face : ‘‘I will own up ; you haA^e the start of me this 
time. No, Eben Rockman did not die then, but be- 
came a thousand times more alive.” 

“ Well, sir, that is just what I intend to do with 
Mr. Berrian, kill the minister to find the man ; and, 
if finding that Minnie Morris is my friend will do 
the work, all the better.” 

“ Little Avoman, I am delighted : you are progress- 
ing rapidly,” said he, rising and walking back and 
forth, as he generally did Avhen under the influence 
of strong feeling, — yes, always Avhen conditions 
would permit. 

Don’t,” said I, “ or I shall be sure to spoil it all ; 
and then — Would you like to hear the darky’s 
definition of progress, uncle ? ” 

Certainly : better than any minister could giA^e, I 
presume.” 

That is what I thought, sir, when I heard it ; it 
is this ; If, when I’se little feller, I crawl up through 
a little hole, and stays there till I get big, I can’t get 
back agin. Noav, Uncle Rockman,” I continued, I’s 
the little feller; I’s craAvled up through the little 
hole ; but I haven’t got big enough yet, but I might 
be frightened back; please give me time to grow.” 


FURTHER ADVENTURES. 


171 


‘‘ The best sermon I ever heard ! the best sermon 
I ever heard ! ” he exclaimed. O Father, I thank 
thee that thou hast hidden these things from the 
wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes ! 
Child,” he continued, turning to me after this ejacula- 
tion, “ that little story has done more to convince me 
that I must adapt myself to people’s conditions, if I 
would benefit them, than all that you have ever said. 
I am not in the least afraid of frightening you back ; 
but there are others who have crawled up, who do 
not really know where they are ; such need time to 
grow.” 

‘‘ Here at seven,” I said, glancing at the clock : 
“ well, make yourself comfortable, and excuse me, 
for I must put things in readiness to give them a 
right royal welcome.” 

‘‘But I have not told you all,” he said: “Minnie 
has one of her boarders with her.” 

I must confess that I shrank. Minnie I had 
learned to love : circumstances had placed her where 
she must take advantage of them, or be crushed. 
But she only boarded the girls ; she did not sell her- 
self. True, I had been at her house, and talked with 
the inmates ; but that was quite a different thing. 

Rockman was watching me: “ Take care there, and 
not slip ” — 

“ Down the hole,” I laughed : “ no, I will not : I 
will welcome all who come with Minnie and Rose ; 
the inner life, the God within, may be untarnished, 
no matter how defaced the external.” 

“Amen and amen.” The sound followed me 
down the stairs, as I went to make the desired 


172 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


preparation for my expected guests. As I moved 
hither and thither, the words made subject to 
vanity, made subject to vanity,” kept running 
through my mind ; but I could not place, could not 
tell, where I had heard them. 

“ Uncle Eben,” I called from the foot of the stairs, 
‘‘ is there a passage in the Bible that speaks of being 
made subject to vanity?” 

“ There is, little woman ; and I have quoted it to 
you in the past.” 

‘‘ I knew that I had heard the words somewhere,” 
I said, “ but I could not remember where : will you 
give me the entire passage ? ” 

I will, and tell you where to find it too. It 
reads thus : ‘ For the creature was made subject to 
vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who 
has subjected the same in hope,’ — twentieth verse, 
eighth chapter, of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans : a 
very good passage to think of if you wish to be 
charitable to Lina Brown.” 

Is that the name of the lady who is coming with 
Minnie ? ” I asked. 

‘‘ Yes, and sister of our old friend John Brown, 
the carpenter.” 

I was all interest now ; no more shrinking, but an 
earnest desire to meet this to me new face, as well 
as those I knew and loved. “ What a difference a 
little knowledge of one’s history makes ! If we 
could look into the inner life of all, could see and 
feel their joys and sorrows, as the ‘ dear God ’ does, 
we should no longer be cold or uncharitable.” It 
was thus I mused, as I tripped to and fro ; but there 


FURTHER ADVENTURES. 


173 


came a voice, I can not tell from whence : I only- 
know that it reached mj inner consciousness, and it 
asked, — 

“ What of Robert Crandall ? ” 

I struggled to indue him in my charity, but it was 
a hard task. 

“ Slipping back ? ” the voice still questioned. I 
rallied, and replied, “ Only holding on, give me time 
to grow,” when the bell rang, and I knew that my 
friends had come. Forgetful of every thing but the 
joy of the meeting, I rushed up stairs ; and having 
clasped both Rose and Minnie to my heart, I could 
do no less than press a kiss upon the white brow of 
the little figure who turned her eyes so appealingly 
toward me, as I was introduced to ‘‘ Miss Brown.” 

Uncle Eben w.as watching me ; and the blessing his 
eyes flashed upon me was a real benediction. 

“We have been to tea,” was the response to my 
invitation to the dining-room. 

“And why did you do that when you knew you 
were coming here ? ” I asked. 

“ Only hear her ! ” said Rose : “ she would have had 
us gone hungry for two mortal hours just for the 
pleasure of feeding us herself.” 

“If it is two hours since you have eaten, I shall 
not excuse you, miss; for, whatever the others might 
do, I know that, with the prospect before you of 
seeing me so soon, it was but precious little food 
that you swallowed,” I said. 

“ I guess there is but little to choose between us 
on that score,” remarked Minnie ; “ but our Lina’s 
cousin (glancing affectionately at Miss Brown) 
would not let us leave without a cup of tea.” 


174 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


“ Come then, uncle, you too : no excuses,” and we 
were soon seated around the table, and if we did not 
eat, we talked ; and a portion of what I had prepared 
disappeared somewhere ; that is certain. 

“ Now, Miss Morris, we will adjourn to the parlor, 
and listen to your plans,” said Rockman, when tea 
was over. 

‘‘ Not till these dishes are washed,” replied 
Minnie. She had noticed that I had no girl. ‘‘ If 
we are to be independent, self-sustaining, we must 
lay no extra burdens upon others.” 

It was in vain that I protested : she would have 
her way. “ You take care of the food,” she said to 
me, ‘‘ and, Rose, you put away the things, while Lina 
and I wash and wipe the dishes ; ” and without a 
moment’s delay she pinned back her skirts, stepped 
into the kitchen, took the dishpan from its place, 
and went to work. I fell into the line marked out 
for me ; and in about as little time as it has taken to 
tell it the work was done. 

There,” said Minnie, ‘‘ that is something of the 
system that I intend to have in my ‘ Home of the 
Sisters.’ Come, we will go to the parlor now, and 
talk about it.” 

‘ Home of the Sisters,’ an appropriate name,” I 
thought as I led the way up stairs. Once seated, 
Minnie glanced around upon us, and began, — 

“ There have been many efforts made to assist the 
Magdalen ; good, well-meaning people have talked, 
prayed, and worked to this end : but what have they 
accomplished ? Nothing, so to speak ; and why ? 
Simply because they do not understand us. They 


FURTHER ADVENTURES. 


175 


label us, hold us up before the public as those who 
need aid ; but we must receive that aid humbly, 
thankfully, with our faces in the dust. It does not 
suit us ; we rebel, and are cut off from sympathy. 

‘‘ Now, I propose an entirely different plan. I pro- 
pose that there shall be no Magdalens, no outcasts, 
but simply honest, self-sustaining women, who will 
yield their love only as love is given in return. 

“ How will I make them self-sustaining, do you 
ask ? That is easy enough if there is a money base 
to start with, and a determination to succeed. The 
money base we have. There are ten of us com- 
bined; enough to make a beginning. We have 
planned for this end. The girls who were with me 
at the capital, and those I have won over to work 
with me since we left there ; and that which was 
raised by a tax on the people to pay senators, repre- 
sentatives, and other State officers, has added largely 
to this money base. They paid it to the girls for 
their pleasure, and the girls saved it to free them- 
selves. 

‘‘We have sold our jewelry, the most of it; also 
our rich clothing. I have put all I have saved for 
seven years into the fund, and we have fifteen thou- 
sand dollars. Ten thousand of that is on interest at 
ten per cent, which will bring us one thousand 
yearly, as income.” 

“ Using the money-god’s weapon, interest, to cut 
the lust-god’s throat,” I remarked. 

“ Yes, or in other words to sever the chains of his 
victims,” she replied, and then continued, “We 
have five thousand to commence work with. We 


176 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


might go into;iSome business like keeping store, a 
fashionable millinery, or something of that kind ; 
but I do not choose it. We want something that 
will bring us into respectful social contact with men. 
It is not good for man to be alone ; it is not good 
for woman to be alone. God never intended that 
they should be separated ; and he has planted a law 
of life in woman’s heart, that followed, free from 
the money pressure to warp it from its legitimate 
action, followed thus, will never lead to really evil 
results.” 

‘‘ Your standard of morality would not be recog- 
nized by the world,” I said. 

‘‘ Neither do we recognize theirs,” was the re- 
sponse. ‘‘We know theirs to be false, one which 
they can not, and but few of them try to live by. 
But we need say nothing of our standard, till by its 
fruits we have demonstrated its value. 

“ But we ourselves can not live fully up to our 
standard at first : we may so far as the spirit is con- 
cerned, but we shall be obliged for a time to conform 
somewhat to the letter of the old.” 

“ I do not exactly understand what you mean,” I 
said. 

She turned to me with, “ Do you believe that the 
legal tie without love constitutes marriage in any 
true sense of that term ? ” 

“ I can not say that I do,” was my unwilling reply ; 
for I saw where the logic of her reasoning was 
leading me, and I did not like to follow. 

“ ‘ Love is the fulfilling of the law ; ’ do you 
remember that sermon?” asked Bookman. 


FURTHER ADVENTURES. 


17V 


I shall not be very likely to forget it, with you 
before me, sir.” 

He smiled : “ Don’t fall through, child.” 

Minnie looked as though she did not quite under- 
stand, and I gave an impatient toss of the head; 
while she continued, “ It is love, and not law, that 
constitutes marriage ; but in order to make ourselves 
secure, should any of us find love’s bonds upon us, 
we shall demand the legal tie, or no public recogni- 
tion. So, you see, circumstances force us to put a 
chain about our necks ; will for a time, but not 
always. The time will come when the world must 
learn that love is the fulfilling of the law.” 

‘‘ But you have not told us yet what your plan 
is,” I said. 

True ; well, it is this. My girls, all but Lina 
here, are to be scattered through different portions 
of the State, learning some useful trade. Some of 
them have already found places ; and others need but 
little training, having been taught to work in early 
life. This done, I intend to find some inland city, 
one not intimately connected with the great thor- 
oughfares, and hire a double house for the double 
purpose of having a place for my girls, and a place 
to keep boarders. 

“ Lina and I will take charge of one-half of the 
house, and we will board and lodge gentlemen, single 
gentlemen. Rose here, and Uncle Rockman, — 
and they would like to have you join them, — will 
take the other half, and make it a lodging-house for 
ladies who take' in sewing, teach music, or some 
other employment that may present; and I will 
board them all. 


178 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


“ You see, the ladies will lodge in one house, and 
the gentlemen in the other. My girls are attractive, 
and can make a home so agreeable that I shall have 
no difficulty in keeping an equal number of gentle- 
men ; and I will invite them all into my parlor twice 
a week, to spend the evening, and Rose will do the 
same ; so that four evenings will be used for social 
life ; and this, with what sociability we have at the 
table, will so equalize the magnetic forces between 
the sexes that there will be little or no excess, and 
the lives of those who have existed on excitement 
will be made tolerable ; whereas those Christians who 
attempt to save them make their lives intolerable.” 

‘‘ But how will the girls live when your money is 
gone ? ” I asked. 

I do not intend that our money shall be gone,” 
she replied. I can, or ive can, get such a house as I 
have named for eight or nine hundred dollars per 
year ; and ten boarders at five dollars per week, — 
those who had the best rooms more, and the poorest 
ones less, but average that, — ten boarders at that 
price would be twenty-six hundred per year. I should 
expect the girls to do the work, washing and all.” 

“ For the gentlemen too ? ” 

‘‘ Yes, if I could get it for them, and I know 
I could; and many hands make light work. A 
healthy, industrious woman would think it no great 
task to cook, wash, and sew for herself and husband ; 
and where the work is done for twenty, instead of 
two, the work will not be more than half as much in 
proportion ; and the girls can earn something outside 
of doing their own work, and still have time for 
study and recreation.” 


FURTHER ADVENTURES. 


179 


“ Study ! ” I exclaimed. 

“Yes, why not? We intend to keep well in- 
formed as to what is going on in the world ; but, to 
the money-question. We will suppose that the girls, 
in various ways, earn fifty dollars each beside doing 
the work I have named. That would be five hun- 
dred dollars, or ten dollars a week. Now we will 
suppose the rent nine hundred, fuel and food bought 
at wholesale prices twelve hundred, two hundred for 
loss on board-bills, and that would leave eighty each 
to the girls for clothing ; and recollect that we have 
a thousand income beside, so I do not see much dan- 
ger of the money’s being gone.” 

“ There is only one thing about it that hurts me,” 
said Rockman, “ and that is the thousand dollars 
interest-money. Who earns it ? In the last analysis 
it is the laborer.” 

“ I know it,” said Minnie, “ but remember that we 
are studying how to do away with this system of 
interest ; how to supersede it with something better. 
It is not pl'ostitution only that we are aiming to 
destroy ; that is but one branch of the tree of evil.”' 

“ We first make a platform of that which we aim 
at destroying, in order to get a footing somewhere 
else, before we kick it over,” said Rose. 

“Yes, yes ; well, I do not know as it is well to 
ask too much at once, but I wish it could be other- 
wise,” said Uncle Eben sadly. 

Miss Brown — Lina, as Rose and Minnie called 
her — said nothing, but her expressive face showed 
the interest she felt. 

“ This is all very nice,” said I, “ as far as it goes ; 


180 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


but what are ten girls saved, to the whole number 
that need saving ? ” 

‘‘ Do not imagine that I shall stop with ten ; that 
is only the beginning. Remember that we are a 
band of sisters, each and all pledged to stand by one 
another. There is heavy work to be done by and 
by, and we shall be preparing for it. Do you sup- 
pose there will be no thought in our parlor-meetings, 
no questioning of the tendency of the present order 
of things, no searching into the causes which produce 
this hungering after stimulants, &c. ? 

I shall go out and bring in others as these get 
the working of things, and shall see to it that two or 
three of those best fitted to take the lead go into 
another house, and take gentlemen to board, they 
lodging elsewhere ; and I will soon have ten girls in 
the house, and ten gentlemen who only come to their 
meals, and to the parlor-meetings once or twice a 
week. Then I will start another upon a little differ- 
ent plan, but giving woman the controlling power of 
the home every time ; and seeing to it that man pro- 
vides the means for both, while she does the work 
for both.” 

‘‘ That is the way it is in society now, Minnie,” I 
said. 

Yes, but with this difference : man controls the 
purse ; while, in the plan I propose, woman does it, 
or enough, at least, to make her independent of 
him.” 

“ But suppose, Minnie, that your boarders fall in 
love with the girls : what then ? ” 

‘‘ If the love is mutual, it will be legitimate.” 


FURTHER ADVENTURES. 


181 


“ Marriage will take them out of your band of sis- 
ters, however,” I urged. 

“ Legal marriage will ; but, realizing that love is 
marriage, there need be no legal bonds unless the 
parties desire it,” she said. 

“ And what kind of salvation would that be ? ” I 
asked. 

“It would be exchanging a condition in which 
one was obliged to sell her person for bread, for one 
in which mutual love was the only sanction for such 
union ; and, if you think that is no salvation, try 
both,” she replied with a bitterness in her tone, 
which showed that she had some comprehension of 
the difference. “ No,” she continued, “ I have never 
sold myself, but I have seen enough of it. I have 
witnessed the anguish of those who have been forced 
to it, and I know what love without legality is. It 
is purity itself compared to the legal sales termed 
marriage, which are consummated every day.” 

“ But society will never recognize such unions,” I 
continued. 

“ Society need know nothing about it, if we are 
true to each other ; not at present, at least, and 
remember, we are not dealing with society’s mem- 
bers, but with those whom she has cast out. We 
are aiming to save such from utter degradation, and 
society from the curse which such degradation brings 
to it.” 

“ And society will not thank you for snatching its 
victims away from its capacious maw,” said Rock- 
man. 

“ But the victims will, Uncle Eben,” said Rose. 


182 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘Yes,” added Minnie; “and when we have 
enough of them saved, and they are taught to act in 
concert, society will be glad to notice us.” 

“ How will you make them do it ? ” I asked. 

“ By proving that love is the fulfilling of the law ; 
by showing that justice, love, fraternity, and equal- 
ity form a fourfold cord that will protect its mem- 
bers from outward assault,” was her response. 

“ By their fruits ye shall know them, and the 
fruits of love will be lovely ; judged by such a rule, 
are one-half the children we see upon the streets the 
fruits of love ? ” asked Miss Brown. 

It was the first remark she had made since we com- 
menced upon this subject ; and I looked up in sur- 
prise, while Mr. Rockman remarked, — 

“ If you do not say much. Miss Lina, you think to 
some purpose.” 

“ Judged by your standard, Lina,” said Rose, “ too 
many of the children we meet on the street and else- 
where would be counted the children of tiger-cats, 
from the way they scratch and bite when angry.” 

“ They teach me,” said Rockman, “ that human 
nature is made of pretty good stuff: they are so 
much better, the most of them, than I should think 
they could be, considering conditions and surround- 
ings.” 

“And I,” I said, turning to Minnie, “must be 
excused from joining in your plan, though I will 
throw no impediments in your way, and will give a 
home to any girl who really desires to reform ; but I 
want no half-way work. I was persuaded into going 
to the Capital with you, but I can not consent to this.” 


FURTHER ADVENTURES, 


183 


“ You did not go to the Capital with me, my friend ; 
you went with Mr. Rockman and Rose,” was her 
quiet reply. 

‘‘ But you were the master spirit in the planning, 
Minnie.” 

‘‘ And I am able to be the master spirit in this : I 
shall not shrink because some of my friends do not 
see the work as I do.” 

‘‘ Stand by your colors. Miss Morris : I am with 
you,” said Uncle Eben ; and then there was silence 
till another subject was introduced, or, rather, 
another branch of the same subject ; to wit, woman’s 
relation to labor and capital, and the causes which 
make her so dependent. 

But the hour was getting late, and we soon sepa- 
rated for the night. I went, however, to a sleepless 
pillow. All night long, I turned over in my mind 
Minnie’s plans ; and, the more I thought, the more 
repulsed I became. ‘ Deception, hypocrisy all the 
way through,’ I said to myself. If they were only 
willing to come out and own what they have been, 
and promise to do better, I would help them ; but 
now ” — 

“ You want them to confess,” said the inner voice. 

And why should they not be willing to appear in 
their true colors ? ” I responded. 

Are you a Catholic ? ” the voice questioned again. 

“ Of course not.” 

‘‘ Don’t believe in confessing to the priest, but 
only to God ? ’ 

I was silent ; and the same inward monitor contin- 
ued, Then why ask these girls to make the great 
public their priest, yourself among the rest ? ” 


184 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘But what would become of society if marriage 
was ignored ? ” I urged, not liking to yield the point. 

“ Who would marry these girls ? ” was the re- 
sponse. 

“ But some one might marry one of them, if they 
go under false colors.” 

“ And what of the men who have associated with 
these girls ? must they come out and give the world 
their history to keep from marrying under false 
colors ? ” 

So the conflict went on, till I could almost imagine 
that an unseen presence, a distinct personality, stood 
by my bed, arguing the cause of the outcast with me. 
In the morning I was worn, haggard almost; and 
Minnie remarked it. 

“ I could not sleep,” I said, “ for thinking of your 
plans. You know that I object to this underhanded 
work, was not satisfied with it while we were in the 
city, but the rest of you overruled me.” 

Miss Brown looked at me with shy brown eyes as 
I said this, and asked, — 

“ What kind of prayers do you believe in ? ” 

“What kind of prayers? I do not understand 
you.” 

“If I was hungry, and you had plenty, which 
would you do, — ask God to feed me, or do it your- 
self?” 

“ I should do it myself,” I said. 

“ You believe in doing your prayers, then, instead 
of saying them ; well, that is the kind Miss Morris 
believes in. But Jesus said, ‘When thou prayest 
enter into thy closet, and, when thou hast shut the 


FURTHER ADVENTURES. 


185 


door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy 
Father which seest thee in secret shall reward thee 
openly.’ ” 

I looked at her wondering why she should quote 
that text of Scripture, and what application she 
coiild make of it, when Rose came to my aid by say- 
ing,— 

Lina means that Minnie’s plans are her prayers.” 

“And she expects to be rewarded openly; perhaps 
she may, but I can not see any blessing to come out 
of an effort to destroy marriage,” I said. 

“ God ordained marriage, and man can not destroy 
it ; though he has tried very hard by insisting that 
the legal shall supersede the real, whenever they 
come in conflict,” said Minnie with a quiet solem-. 
nity that silenced me for the time. 



186 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


CHAPTER XL 

A CONSERVATOE, OF PUBLIC MORALS. 

N hour or so after the conversation re- 
ferred to in our last chapter, Minnie, 
Rose, and Miss Brown made prepara- 
tions to go out, and then I was in 
trouble ; for Minnie was so well known 
in the city, that I feared she would be recognized, 
and the neighbors would learn that she was visiting 
at my house. 

I had been very brave when Mr. Rockman told me 
she was coming, and was ready to hang the minister ” 
or any thing else that came in the way ; but now the 
actuality of facing the public as the friend and asso- 
ciate of such a woman appalled me. “ Such a 
woman,” said the same inner voice that I had con- 
tended with the night before : “ is she not really as 
worthy as the most, if not all, of your acquaint- 
ances ? ” 

I could but acknowledge that she was ; but then, 
people did not think so. 

“ People would not think it amiss, should you be 
seen on the street with Robert Crandall : would you 
think that a sufficient reason for associating with 
him ? ” questioned this persistent invisible. 

‘‘No, indeed! nothing could induce me to give him 
the least countenance,” was my indignant response. 




A CONSEjRFATOJi OF PUBLIC MORALS. 


187 


‘‘ Then why not decide for yourself in one case as 
well as in the other ? ” 

But my trouble about the matter came to an end 
by Minnie’s appearing so equipped and disguised 
that even I myself should not have known her, had 
I seen her elsewhere. Her tall, straight form had 
given place to a stoop ; her hair had changed its 
color ; and her face, by the aid of cosmetics deftly 
put on, looked at least fifteen years older than when 
she left the breakfast-table. 

I could only look my surprise ; while she laughed, 
and said, “ You had all your trouble for nothing, 
didn’t you?” 

I could not see my own face ; but, judging by my 
feelings, I must have flushed to the hue of scarlet. 

‘‘ Never mind,” she said, seeing my embarrassment : 
“ it was only natural that you should wish to save 
yourself from the fangs of Mother Grundy, for she 
is a terrible creature ; but we are so accustomed to 
her blear-eyed criticisms that we can stand the ordeal 
without flinching.” 

I turned to Rose ; she was her own natural self. 
^‘What if you should meet Robert Crandall?” I 
asked. 

“ Indeed, aunty, I should rather like it. I put him 
down so nicely last winter, that I think he will be 
glad to let me alone.” 

‘‘Don’t be too sure of it,” I said; “for he has the 
impudence of Satan, and the malice too. He will 
make you suffer for that yet, I fear.” 

“ I will risk him, with Minnie by my side,” she 
replied. 


188 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


But where are you going, if I may ask ? ” 

“ Lina has a brother in the city somewhere, and 
we are going to help her to find him.” 

“Well, I hope you will be successful; but, oh, 
dear ! this state of things that requires constant 
deception,” I groaned. 

When they were gone, I turned to Mr. Rockman, 
and took up the subject of Minnie’s plans. “ What 
do you think of them ? ” I asked. 

“ I think, child, that, when a class that has been 
so wronged and trodden under foot get the idea 
that they can help themselves, it is a hopeful sign.” 

“ True ; but do you think that she will be able 
to accomplish any thing ? ” 

“ I do not think that her plans are perfect, but she 
will learn by experience. She is made of the right 
stuff, and when she undertakes a things sh.e will not 
be likely to yield readily,” he said. 

“ But what good will it do, even supposing that 
she makes a hundred or two self-supporting, outside 
of the miserable traffic in which they are now 
engaged? they will be but a drop to the bucket 
compared to the entire number. If one could only 
put a stop to the thing itself, it would amount to 
something.” 

Eben Rockman looked at me without speaking, 
till I fairl}^ shrank into myself to get away from his 
gaze. At length he drew a long breath, and said, 
“ If one of that number was your sister, or your 
child, you would not say that. Do you know, have 
you any idea, what prostitution is ? 

“I am a man, and can not be supposed to know 


A CONSERVATOR OF PUBLIC MORALS. 


189 


what a woman feels ; but I have seen women who 
were so repulsive to me, — not ignorant, dirty, 
degraded ones, but well-dressed, well-behaved, •— I 
have seen such, that, were I obliged to lie down in 
their arms, I beheve I should curse God and die to 
escape such a doom. It is not so terrible a thing to 
associate with one we love, one whose touch is 
pleasure to us ; the woman who believes she is 
legally married is as happy as though she was really 
so. It is the hated association, the repulsive em- 
braces, that make the curse of prostitution, — is 
prostitution., for nature knows no other.” 

“ I believe I should curse God and die to escape 
such a doom.” With what terrible earnestness he 
uttered these words, and what a picture it presented 
to my mind ! I was a woman, and I knew what 
this utter shrinking meant when felt towards the 
legal mate, when felt where we are taught that it is 
duty to yield ; yet, strange to say, I had never before 
looked at the Magdalen’s life from this stand-point. 
Not that I had never heard it spoken of, but I had 
never been made to feel, to realize it. I shuddered 
at the thought of such a fate for me or mine ; but 
somehow I had not sensed that the poor outcast was 
of the same flesh and blood. 

Nature is true to herself,” he continu^ed ; and 
that which she so repels is, must be, destructive. It 
is this that kills those poor girls, fills them with 
disease, makes them at last objects of loathing to 
themselves and others. Suppose you were com- 
pelled, day after day, to take the most loathsome 
food into your stomach, or starve ; mixed, perhaps, 


190 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


with that which was agreeable, but still the repul- 
sive must be taken; how long do you think you 
could remain healthy ? ” 

Don’t,” said I, “ the picture is too terrible ; but 
why will they remain there ? it seems to me that 
there must be some means of escape.” 

‘‘ Could you live wholly separated from your 
kind ? ” he asked. 

‘‘ I should not like to, certainly.” 

‘‘Would you like to live among people who 
looked down upon you, making you feel that you 
were only tolerated tlirough their charity, their 
gracious generosity ? ” 

“I do not think that I should stay among such 
people long,” I replied. 

“ And especially if you felt that you were just as 
good as they were, but with this difference : they 
had stolen a thousand dollars, and you knew it, 
though you had no means of proving it on them, 
and the world believed them honest ; while, on the 
contrary, you had stolen but a hundred, but had 
been found out in your theft. Would you accept a 
lower place beside such people, if they would con- 
sent to tolerate you ? ” 

“ Indeed I would not. I might be content to 
humble myself before the really good, but before 
such hypocrites, never ! ” was my indignant reply. 

The man seemed determined to pat the case 
before me from every possible standpoint ; for he 
continued, — 

“You would feel more at home as an equal 
among recognized thieves, than you would as a peni- 
tent among unrecognized thieves ? ” 


A CONSBjRVATOH of PUBLIC MORALS. 


191 


I should, yes.” 

“ Madam, you have answered your own question, 
as to why those poor girls stay where they are, why 
they accept the condition and make the most of 
it. Change the word thieves to violators of the 
marriage-law, and the analogy is perfect. 

“ The world, the great pretentious, hypocritical 
world, will never receive such as Minnie Morris as 
an equal. It demands that they remain where they 
are, or that they keep at its feet as penitents, beg- 
ging for the mantle of forgiveness, of charity, to be 
thrown over them. And yet, were Minnie to go 
into society, she would meet at almost every turn 
those who had been her guests ; who had used their 
influence, their power, so far as their money and 
their presence went, to hold her where she was. 
And do you suppose that she will bow and stand 
back before such ? 

“ There is no hope for that class, for her and such 
as she mingles with, only as they take the matter in 
their own hands, and flght it out with the world ; 
for there is one thing that always commands re- 
spect, and that is grit ; the cool, persevering self- 
assertion that refuses to submit to the wrong. I 
repeat it, Minnie has started on the right track. 
She will respect herself, and teach those who join 
with her to do the same ; and, the movement once 
started, others will take it up ; and in combination 
they will be a power, one of the powers that will 
aid in changing our present imperfect system of 
things to something higher and better.” 

As I followed his argument, I felt that he was 


192 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


right ; and yet I found myself rebelling against every 
practical step in the direction indicated, till he 
finally said to me, — 

Child, your good name stands in your way : you 
will never be an efficient worker till that is taken 
from you. You look on and sympathize with the 
wounded, but are so very much afraid that their 
touch will stain your white robes, you dare not come 
near to aid. When a sword pierces your own soul, 
and the blood streams from thence, you will then 
know that your garment is not yourself 

Prophetic words ! but I did not think that I was 
so soon to test them. 

Minnie and her daughters, as she laughingly called 
Eose and Lina, were gone about three hours. Lina 
had succeeded in finding her brother, but he could 
not invite her home on his wife’s account : so he 
would be here this evening, with my permission, and 
talk with her a while. 

‘‘Certainly,” I said; “your brother seems like an 
old acquaintance to me, though I have never spoken 
with him. I used to watch him at work when he 
was building the house next me.” 

“And did he build that house? ” she asked, giv- 
ing it an affectionate look, as though his touch had 
endeared it to her. 

“ The very embodiment of womanly trust and 
love,” thought I as I looked upon her. 

“ By the way,” said Rose turning to me, “ we did 
meet Crandall, and he looked as though he would 
annihilate me ; but I do not think he had any idea 
who Minnie was ; for, just as he passed us, Lina called 


A CONSEUVATOIi OF PUBLIC MORALS, 


193 


out, ‘ Mother, isn’t that beautiful ? ’ pointing to an 
oil-painting which hung in a show-window of a large 
picture-store. 

‘‘Oh! it was rich to see the black cloud which 
settled down upon his honor’s countenance ; only he 
makes me shudder Avhen I come near him, as if I 
had come in contact with some slimy reptile.” 

“I wish he had not seen you. Rose,” said Rock- 
man quietly ; but I detected an undertone of anxiety. 

“ Why ? ” I asked, looking up quickly. 

“ Look there ! ” said he, pointing across the street. 

“ He has tracked us home,” said Rose. 

“ He means mischief,” said I. 

“ Nonsense I what mischief can he do ? ” ex- 
claimed Rose ; but yet she did not look quite satis- 
fied. 

“ I am not so certain that he did not recognize 
Minnie,” said Rockman : “he knows her too well 
to be readily deceived,” glancing at the same time at 
me in a way which showed that he had not expressed 
his whole thought. 

It was not necessary that he should, for I felt it 
all through me. My good name was gone ! 

Minnie as yet had said nothing, but her look 
showed that she was thinking. “ Did Robert Cran- 
dall get an idea, last winter, that Rose had ever 
been at my house in disguise, Mr. Rockman ? ” she 
asked at length. 

“ I think he did : he accused Rose to me of being 
your errand-boy the night I confronted him at the 
ball ; and I only laughed at him.” 

“ Oh I I am sorry you did not tell me, uncle ; for, 


194 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


had I known it, I should have taken care to have 
kept her, as well as myself, entirely out of his way, 
or have so disguised both, that neither would have 
been suspected because of being with the other.” 

“ Disguised ! disguised ! disguised ! ” I exclaimed 
in a tone of vexation. ‘‘ I am sick of this disguising : 
one would think we were all a set of criminals.” 

‘‘ And so we are,” said Minnie. In the first 
place, it is a criminal offence that we were born to 
be women ; in the second place, we were born slaves, 
and have no right to our own bodies, only as the law 
directs ; consequently, a part of us have offended in 
this direction ; and, in the third place, it is against 
the law for a woman to dress in male attire. 

‘‘ Crandall knows this, and he holds a grudge 
against us because we dared to deceive his honor- 
ship : so he will make us trouble if he can. Rose, we 
must get out of this.” 

“How, what?” said I, hardly knowing what I 
did say. 

“ Lina can stay here : it is Rose and I that he is 
angry with, and we must leave the city immedi- 
ately. Were I at m}^ own home, and in my own 
proper colors, I would meet and defy him ; but, for 
your sake, we must leave.” 

I was about to remonstrate, but she put her “hand 
upon my lips with, “ Not a word ; ” and in a few 
minutes she and Rose sped out of the back way, and, 
hailing a passing hack, were soon at the depot and 
aboard the train, which, had they been a moment 
later, would have left them behind. 

Rockman, after they left, did as he usually did 


A CONSERVATOR OF PUBLIC MORALS. 


195 


under strong excitement, — walked the room with 
rapid strides ; and I sat down, and cried with anger. 
Could I have had the handling of Crandall for 
a while, I think he would not have been treated 
very tenderly. 

‘‘ Possess your soul in patience, little woman : 
‘ the wicked shall not always triumph,’ ” said he at 
length, coming and placing his hand on my head. 

‘‘ But why need they triumph at all ? ” I asked. 

“ God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform : 

He plants his footsteps in the sea, 

And rides upon the storm. ’ ’ 

I have heard you repeat that before,” I said in 
no amiable tones. 

And you may hear me repeat it many times 
more, for that old hymn of Watts’s is one of the 
grandest things in the English language.” 

‘‘ It may be grand to you, sir ; but I prefer less 
mystery and more justice.” I had dried my eyes ; 
but the indignant blood was coursing through my 
veins at unusual speed, and the look I wore was 
any thing but that of submission ; that is, if feelings 
are any indication of looks ; I did not consult the 
glass. Just then the door-bell rang. 

“It is Crandall with an officer,” Rocbman said. 

“ How do you know ? ” I asked. 

“ God told me.” 

“ I think God had better have told you before,” I 
snapped out. 

“ His ways are not like our ways : shall I go 
down ? ” 


196 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


The bell rang the second time with an impatient 
jerk. 

No,” I said. “ I will go,” for I ached to give 
Crandall “ a bit of my tongue,” as an Irishman 
would say. I descended the stairs, and went quickly 
to the door. I did not find Crandall, but a gentle- 
manly looking man stood there. 

“ Is there a Miss Barron here ? ” he asked. 

‘‘ There is not, sir.” 

“ Has there been no such lady here ? ” 

There has; but she left in company with a lady 
friend, about an hour since.” 

Can you inform me, madam, where she went ? ” 

“ I can not, sir : she did not know herself just 
where she should stop, but said she would write and 
let me know.” 

He stood back a moment as if in thought, while I 
drew back as if to close the door. “ Madam,” said 
he, “ I am sorry to trouble you, but I have a war- 
rant for the arrest of Miss Barron ; she was seen to 
enter this house, and has not been seen to leave 
it.” 

‘‘ You can search the house, sir, as thoroughly as 
you like ; but I must first know of what my friend 
Miss Rose Barron is accused.” 

“ She is accused, as you will see by this warrant, 
of wearing male attire at different times, and in 
public places.” 

“ By whom is this accusation made ? ” I asked. 

“ By the Hon. Robert Crandall, representative 
from this district.” I drew back. 

You can search as much as you please,” I said. 


A CONSEJiVATOB OF PUBLIC MORALS. 


197 


“But Robert Crandall will find that his prey has 
escaped him this time ; and he will not have the 
opportunity of drugging her, as he did years ago.” 

I felt a warning touch, and, looking up, found 
Rockman standing by me. “ Be careful what accusa- 
tions you make,” he whispered in my ear: “ you may 
be called upon to prove them ; ” then aloud, “ Cran- 
dall is out the back way watcliing,” and for reply, I 
said, — 

“Will you please show this gentleman over the 
house ? ” 

Of course the search was fruitless; but I could 
not sit quietly down and wait while the officer was 
going over the house : so I walked out the back door, 
went to the fence from whence I could look into the 
street, and confronted Crandall with, “ Are you at 
the head of the moral police, sir ? ” 

He looked at me with a sneer upon his face, but 
made no reply. “ Because if you are,” I said, “ I can 
tell you where the nearest drug-store is, if you are 
not supplied with that kind of moral suasion.” 

“ Madam, if you think to divert my attention, and 
so give your accomplices a chance to escape, you will 
fail,” he said with a lofty air of severity. 

“ And, if you think to set eyes on her you seek, 
you will fail, for she is beyond your reach,” I re- 
torted. “ A nice law-maker you are ! a splendid 
conservator of public morals.” 

“ Rail on, madam : the tongue of a woman of 
doubtful reputation is no slander,” he said, with a 
leer that so fired me with indignation, that, had I 
been in reach of a pistol, I should have tried my 


198 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


hand at ridding the earth of his presence. I felt 
that I would be willing to die, could I look upon his 
dead body first. Wicked, was I ? wait, whoever you 
are that read these lines, — wait till you have been 
tried in a similar manner, before you condemn. 

I controlled myself, however, for he should not see 
that he had moved me ; and the next words I 
uttered were as calm as intense hate and intense 
pride could make them. 

^‘With you, sir, reputation is every thing; you 
have no character to defend ; honor, manhood, all 
that is valuable, went long ago ; poor fellow, I pity 
you ! ” and, turning upon my heel, I left him looking 
the image of concentrated rage. 

Pride and hatred, — poor weapons these to van- 
quish an enemy with,” I often think as I look back 
upon that time. How much I needed growth ! 
How little I realized the spirit of the words, ‘‘ Father, 
forgive them, for they know not what they do ” ! 

That evening I sent for the Rev. Mr. Berrian, and, 
upon his arrival, sat down in company with Eben 
Rockman, and gave liim the whole history of my 
acquaintance with Rose, told him of her school-days, 
of finding her afterward in • the street in the condi- 
tion I had; of my acquaintance with Minnie, — in 
fact, told him all without reservation ; Mr. Rockman 
supplying many links that I could not, he not hav- 
ing told even me. 

The looks of horror, the tears of sympathy, that 
he gave to my recital, convinced me that, whatever 
his prejudices as a minister might be, as a man he 
had a heart that was true and tender. One week 


A CONSERVATOR OF PUBLIC MORALS. 


199 


before, I could not have looked him in the face, and 
told him all this ; but the experience of the last few 
hours had swept away, and for ever, all the barriers 
of false modesty ; and now the truth was of more 
value to me than all else. 

It was a terrible experience, but it brought me 
eventually the richest boon of my life. 

“ And is there no way to reach this man ? ” asked 
Mr. Berrian at length. 

“ None that I see, sir : he is rich and honorable, 
and who would believe the story, were it given to 
the public? a woman’s word, if there can be even a 
shadow thrown upon her character, no matter how 
unjustly, is counted of but little worth.” 

“ God help us to bear the bitter wrong, then ! ” he 
said ; his indignation, and what he believed to be 
Christian submission, struggling for the mastery. 

“ God help us to do away with the causes which 
produce such wrong ! ” was Rockman’s response. 

The reverend gentleman looked at him in surprise. 

How can we reach the causes ? ” he asked. 

“ By giving woman her rightful place beside man 
as his equal, sir : she is a slave, now, is under man’s 
control, subject to his will. Man stands in the place 
of God to woman, and what an idea he gives her of 
the divine ! Oh, heaven ! I sometimes blush that I 
wear a man’s form ! ” and again the rapid strides 
back and forth across the room. 

Mr. Berrian’s look said, “What kind of a man is 
this ? ” and Eben, turning as though he had read the 
thought, replied, — 

“ I am one whose soul is linked to the souls of 


200 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


the suffering; so linked, that there is no rest for 
me till their wrongs are righted. Their cause is 
my cause ; and neither hight nor depth, things 
present, nor things to come, can separate me from 
them.” 

“ Do you not use Scripture lightly, my friend? ” 
questioned Mr. Berrian. 

If God has written in my heart the same lan- 
guage that is found in the book, I shall not give 
preference to one over another, sir,” was Rockman’s 
reply. And Mr. Berrian, finding a character that he 
could not handle, made no further attempt to do so, 
but, turning to me, said, — 

Madam, I thank you for honoring me with your 
confidence in this matter ; and rest assured, that, 
whenever it is in my power to serve you, I shall be 
only too glad to do so,” and then retired, and left 
us to ourselves. 

“You were right, little woman,” said uncle, as 
soon as he was gone. “ Hang the minuter,^ and there 
will be a splendid man left ; but, while the minister 
lives to take the lead, the man is cast into the 
shade.” 

“ What is that you say about hanging ministers ? ” 
asked Lina, coming into the room at the moment. 

I laughed : “ Uncle Rockman thinks that Mr. 
Berrian is more of a man than he is a minister, and 
he does not like the idea of the professional title 
taking the precedence of the one who wears it : that 
is all.” 

“ And enough too. Why will men who profess to 
follow J esus take to themselves titles, allow them- 


A CONSFBVATOB OF PUBLIC MORALS. 


201 


selves to be called rabbis, masters, reverends, when 
Jesus directly forbade it ? The Rev. Mr. Rockman, 
the Rev. Mr. Berrian : away with such nonsense ! ” 
said Eben. 

“ Men should be tender of babies, or cripples, Mr. 
Rockman,” said Lina in response to this outburst. 
“ Because you are strong, and do not need a title, a 
staff, it does not follow that those who are weak 
should be denied the support of one.” 

A great support it must be to carry a title. 
Why not say Carpenter Smith, Ditcher Browm, and 
Ploughman Leslie ? I am sure it is quite as honora- 
ble to work at the trade that Jesus did, or to search 
the bosom of mother earth, as it is to pore over the 
pages of a book, about the meaning of which no 
two can exactly agree. We know that a God- 
power was necessary to the existence of the earth 
and her products, but we are not so certain about 
the other.” 

“ Fie, fie. Uncle Rockman ! I thought you believed 
in the Bible.” 

And so I do. Miss Lina ; but, if I find more of 
God outside of it than I do upon its pages, what 
then?” 

“ I expect, uncle, that we must all take him 
where we find liim and as we find him,” was her 
reply. 

Well answered, little one : thou art not far from 
the kingdom. Flesh and blood gave not to thee 
the wisdom of that reply, but our Father in 
heaven.” 

After a few days we heard from Rose and Minnie ; 


202 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


and, as soon as it was practicable, Mr. Rockman and 
Lina went to them. 

“ We need a man with us,” wrote Minnie, to aid 
us in our plans. Men are dreadful beings, but a 
woman needs one as a protector; that is, if she is 
within the pale of respectable society; but if her 
reputation is dead, and she is cast out of the temple, 
then men, like carrion crows, become her dissectors, 
while women stand afar off and hold their noses. 

There are exceptions to this, as you, my friend, 
and Eben Rockman, have proved to be true of your 
own selves ; but, if the buzzards do not tear you 
somewhat before this thing is through with, then I 
am mistaken. By the way, one of the ladies who 
will be with me when we get settled is now in 
Omaha ; and I mailed her a letter yesterday inclosing 
one to Robert Crandall, and asked her to re-mail it 
from there to him. Wouldn’t it be funny if he 
should start for California soon ? ” 

“ Crandall is too old a bird to be caught in that 
way,” said Rockman as he read this ; and they must 
not stay where they are another day.” 

Why ? ” I asked in surprise. 

‘‘ Crandall, I have no doubt, will get either the 
postmaster or the carrier to give him the post-mark 
of our letters.” 

I settled back in my chair with a gasp. Are hea- 
ven and earth combined against us ? ” I managed to 
say at length. 

“ No ; but hell is ; and hell rules this earth just 
now, while God’s kings and queens must hide from 
the face of him who sitteth on its accursed throne. 
Get me pen, ink, and paper.” 


A CONSFBFATOB OF PUBLIC MORALS, 


203 


I did as lie requested ; and, hastily dashing off a 
letter, he took his hat, and went out. ‘‘ Look for me 
when I come,” he said as he closed the door after 
him ; and I did not see him again for two weeks. 

At the end of that time, almost to the minute, he 
walked in again. I then learned that he had gone 
five miles on foot the night he left, mailed his letter 
to Minnie, and then had taken the midnight express, 
and gone twenty miles in the opposite direction, to 
the point at which she was to reply. And so for the 
entire time he had been changing here and there, 
giving no clew by which he could be traced. 

‘‘ Is all this necessary ? ” I asked. “ One would 
tliink you were a criminal hiding from justice.” 

‘‘ And so I am, — from the justice that pursues my 
criminal folly. I made a very great mistake, when, 
for the satisfaction of seeing Crandall’s chagrin at 
being deceived and defeated, I took off my disguise ; 
and through that he learned the part Rose had been 
playing. 

‘‘ He swore then that he would have his revenge, 
and he is a perfect bloodhound on track.” 

“ I could wish you had not done so,” I said, “ but 
that would not change matters now ; and I think I 
should have done the same ; indeed, if I remember 
right, I urged you on. I felt as if my winter at the 
capital would be wasted, if I could not see him put 
to shame.” 

“Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, saith the 
Lord,” he repeated to himself. 

“ I believe it,” I said ; “ and if I had left him to 
God, instead of trying to take his punishment into 


204 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


my own hands, I should have saved myself a great 
deal of trouble.” 

“ Well, do not grieve over it ; good will come out 
of it somehow. The wrath of man shall praise him, 
and the remainder of that wrath he will restrain. 
Minnie has found a place to locate, — a much better 
one she says, than where she stopped first ; and I 
shall go to her next week ; but I must not write to 
you here, neither must she ; and how shall we com- 
municate with you ? ” 

“ I think I can manage it,” I said. I will ask Mr. 
Berrian to let you write me, and inclose it to him ; 
and when I write I will direct to Lina as Mrs. L. W. 
Brown, and mail it at some other oflSce.” 

That will do for the present,” he replied ; ‘‘but 
are you not presuming on Mr. Berrian’s kindness ? ” 
casting upon me a look that brought the blood to my 
cheeks. 

In the mean time Robert Crandall had called upon 
Mr. Berrian, stating that he had the pleasure of lis- 
tening to him the sabbath before, and expressed a 
desire for a better acquaintance. Of course, the 
minister could do no better than to treat him 
kindly. The man would have shaken him off 
like the slimy serpent he was ; but the minister ruled 
the man as yet. 

Not a word of Rose Barron, nor of Minnie Morris ; 
though he had learned from Minnie’s letter that it 
was she that had defeated him by taking Rose out 
of his reach. The next sabbath Crandall attended 
Mr. Berrian’s church again; and this time I was 
there. Mr. Berrian came, at the close of the service, 


A CONSERVATOR OF PUBLIC MORALS, 


205 


and shook me warmly by the hand, asking after my 
health, and saying that he had missed my face. 

Eobert Crandall, with his haughty wife, stood but 
a few feet away, and not a muscle of his face showed 
that he saw me ; but, as the minister moved on, he 
stepped forward, and introduced Mrs. Crandall, and 
together they passed out of the church. Mr. Ber- 
rian looked back to where I was standing, and his 
face showed, to me at least, that he was not pleased 
with his company ; but Crandall managed in such 
a way that he could not break away without being 
rude. 

There was a flutter of pleasure in the congrega- 
tion, for Mr. Berrian was deservedly popular, and 
his people liked to have him appreciated ; and the 
Hon. Mr. Crandall and lady were quite an accession 
to their ranks. Of course it was their minister who 
drew these notables. Simple souls ! they had no 
thought that there could be any other reason. 

The next day, but quite late in the day, as though 
he had put off a disagreeable task as long as possible, 
Eobert Crandall called upon the Eev. Mr. Berrian 
again ; and after discussing the weather, the sermon, 
&c., there was a pause : finally Crandall remarked, — 

“ I see, Mr. Berrian, that you are acquainted with 
the lady who lives next house to what is called 
Wellby’s Eow ; nothing more than a speaking ac- 
quaintance, I presume ? ” 

‘‘ I have called there a few times,” Mr. Berrian 
replied quietly. 

‘‘ Indeed ! I am not surprised at all, for I met her 
in society last winter several times, while at the cap- 


206 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


ital, though she does not seem to go out much here : 
yet I have always supposed her to be a respectable 
woman ; but we never know who we are going to 
meet in this world of sin.” 

“ Please explain yourself, Mr. Crandall.” 

I feel it my duty to do so, sir, though I should 
be glad to avoid it if I conscientiously could; but 
you, as a minister, ought to know of this matter. 
Well, to make the disagreeable story as short as pos- 
sible, years ago I met with a beautiful, and I sup- 
posed at the time an innocent girl. It was before 
I was married, and I was quite attracted to her. 

Fortunately, however, I learned her character 
before it was too late. Well, last winter, just before 
the close of the legislature, I met this same girl at a 
public ball, and under the care of the lady we are 
speaking of. I was surprised, shocked, that our 
wives and daughters could not go into company 
without meeting with such characters. 

‘‘But this is not all. I learned afterward, and 
from reliable sources, that this same girl had spent 
the most of the winter at the house of a notorious 
character by the name of Minnie Morris: she is 
well known in this city. Well, only two or three 
weeks since, this girl and this woman, with another 
one of the same style, and an old man who spends a 
great deal of his time with them, came to this city, 
and stopped with the woman in question several 
days. Indeed, I believe that the man and one of the 
girls have but just gone.” 

“And you know these things to be true?” asked 
Mr. Berrian, looking Crandall full in the face. 


A CONSFJiVATOIi OF PUBLIC MORALS, 


207 


‘‘ If I did not, I should not come and tell you, 
sir,” was the reply. 

‘‘ It was all I could do,” said Mr. Berrian to me 
afterward, in talking about it, ‘‘to so restrain myself 
as to keep from revealing to the smooth-faced hypo- 
crite the fact that I had some previous knowledge 
of what he was telling me ; only that it bore quite a 
different light to what he had given it. As it was, I 
sat for a while as if in troubled thought (which was 
true), and then rising, I said, — 

“ ‘ Mr. Crandall, it is well that you have told me 
this : it is not pleasant work ; but, as a servant of 
Him who was the friend of publicans and sinners, I 
feel that he brings to me such as he desires me to 
benefit, and I shall try to do my duty.’ 

“ He looked as though I had not taken the subject 
quite in the way he hoped, but was too politic to 
say so ; and, with a hope that I should be able to 
accomplish the good I desired, he bade me good- 
evening.” 

“ How did you feel,” I asked, “ when he was tell- 
ing you all this ? ” 

“ I felt as though I was in the presence of Satan,” 
was the vehement reply. 

I laughed in spite of myself, and he looked up 
inquiringly; so I told him of our conversation in 
reference to the man and the minister, and — 

“ You think the minister is growing weak,” he 
interrupted, and laughed so heartily that I joined in 
his merriment without restraint. 

The next sabbath, Crandall and his wife were 
again at church ; and again they made an effort to 


208 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


monopolize the minister, but did not meet with quite 
as much success as on the previous Sunday. Mr. 
Berrian took even more pains than Jisiial to show me 
the friendship and respect he felt; which was of 
course gratifying to me, or would have been but for 
the fear that he was injuring himself. 

I knew, by the cold looks cast upon me from other 
quarters, that the poison had begun its work ; the 
minds of the people were being prejudiced against 
me. And as the choking, smothering atmosphere 
thus generated inclosed me round, I thought, — 

If, with conscious rectitude to sustain me, this is 
so hard to bear, I do not wonder that the wronged 
and forsaken woman shrinks from contact with, or 
hardens herself to defy, when forced to meet it.” 

The next sabbath Crandall came in alone ; and a 
party near me said loud enough for me to hear, 
glancing at him as he took his seat, He says he 
can not bring his wife here so long as that woman 
comes.” 

I knew very weir who ‘‘that woman” was; and 
but for Crandall's presence I should have left the 
house then, such a crushing sense of injustice came 
over me. Fool that I was, to make him of enough 
account to have it affect my course of action ! 

I was too proud, however, to let him see that I was 
in the least moved. I did not see then that I was 
belittling myself : I had not grown big enough for 
that. I did not wait, though, to speak with Mr. 
Berrian ; and I thought then that it was on his 
account. I would save him ; but I am now satisfied 
that it was on my own. I could not have met his 
kindly gaze without tears. 


A CONSERVATOR OF PUBLIC MORALS. 


209 


Upon going home, and thinking the matter over, I 
resolved that I would leave the city ; for I saw, that, 
let what w^ould come, Mr. Berrian would stand by 
me ; and I felt quite sure that such a course would 
result in his losing his place, and that I did not wish. 
I knew where I could sell my house ; for Wellby had 
tried to buy it when building the last house on his 
block, and he had asked me to let him know if I 
ever wanted to dispose of it. 

So the next day, when Mr. Berrian rang my bell, 
I was out on business ; and he got no response. I 
guess he would have rung all day, if I had not told 
him you had gone out, madam,” said the Irish girl 
from the next yard on my return. 

“ And sure he’s a fine gentleman, if he is a Protes- 
tant priest, and more’s the pity,” she continued. I 
thanked her for telling the gentleman I was out, and 
hastened to my room to have a good cry. This lux- 
ury over, I commenced to pack my trunks, and to get 
things ready generally for removal. . It was a hard 
task, but it had to be done. The next morning I 
was off again to complete the sale of my house by 
getting the papers all ready for the signatures ; but I 
told Wellby that I had particular reasons for keep- 
ing matters quiet, and that I would not sign the 
papers till the last minute ; and, if he told any one 
of the matter, I would not sign them at all. 

He seemed a little curious to know why I desired 
this, but I did not enlighten him ; and he was only 
too glad to get the place, to spoil his chance by 
talking about it whe/e I did not wish. When I 
came home this time, Bridget handed me a note 


210 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


over the fence ; and upon opening it I found these 
words : — 

Mrs. , This is the second time I have called, and you 

away. You need not think to escape me thus ; and, if I do 
not find you to-morrow, I shall wait on your doorstep till you 
return. Gossip does not frighten me. 

Respectfully your friend, 

A. Berrian. 

‘‘ Well,” said I to myself, ‘‘I will meet you once 
more ; but, as to remaining here to test your friend- 
ship, I will not. I can suffer alone, but I shall not 
stay and drag you down.” 

He came ; and we had a long and pleasant talk, 
each avoiding that which was most on the mind, to 
wit, Crandall and the slime of his oily tongue ; but 
on leaving he said playfully, and yet I knew that he 
meant it, Now, don’t run off next sabbath, till I 
have time to speak with you ; for if you do I shall 
follow you home.” 

“ Then if I am there, I will wait ; for that would 
never do for a minister,” I replied. 

‘‘ If you are there ? ” he repeated, looking at me 
questioningly. 

‘‘ Yes,” I laughed, for he must not suspect, if I 
am there ; something might happen to detain me.” 

I remained at home that day, and the next till 
toward evening : then I called on Wellby, had the 
papers all properly signed and attested, told him that 
I should go on the midnight express, but would leave 
the keys with the hackman to be given to him the 
next morning. I then had a drayman take what I 
wished to sell to the auction-rooms, and, instead of 


A CONSERVATOR OF PUBLIC MORALS. 


211 


going on the train I had named, took the one half an 
hour earlier, and went in the opposite direction. 

Thus was the home of years broken up ; thus did 
I flee away by night like a criminal, and for Avhat ? 
Simply because my heart had ruled my head in my 
course toward the wronged ones that circumstances 
had brought me in contact with. Woman’s reputa- 
tion is so delicate, that if she dares to befriend a sister 
who has been deceived, betrayed, she, too, must be 
branded Avith the mark of Cain. 

Robert Crandall, under pretense of caring for the 
public morals, had raised the indignation of the 
neighborhood against me to that degree, that, had I 
remained, I should have been subject to indignity if 
not violence ; for it had been represented that I kept 
a decoy-house, was in league with Minnie Morris, 
aiding in furnishing victims for her use. 

Of course their daughters were in danger, and 
their sons liable to be led astray : why should they 
not be aroused, indignant ? 

Still I should have staid, and faced the storm, but 
for the minister. He would stand by me ; and he 
must not suffer on my account. You Avill say that 
Mr. Berrian was a man, as well as Robert Crandall ; 
and why could not one man compete with another ? 
A minister is supposed to have a great deal of influ- 
ence. 

I thought of that ; and the only answer that came 
to me was, “ Ministers, like women, are owned. 
The church, the congregation, own the minister, 
support him, and, so long as he comes up to their 
standard, it is well. There is a higher type of moral- 


212 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


ity required of him than of the masses, and a higher 
morality required of woman than of man : conse- 
quently both the woman and the minister are en- 
slaved ; for, if the people can be made to believe that 
the standard has been marred, there is no hope for 
them.” 

So the woman fled to save the minister ; and the 
man of the world, the smooth, politic, hypocritical 
man, prevailed. 

“ You are too excitable,” said a friend to me years 
ago ; ‘‘you need to be more cool, calculating ” — 

“ Devil,” I burst forth ; and in my mind the three 
words have become so associated, that, where I find 
the two first in any great degree, it makes me fear 
that I shall find the last also. 

The continued, persistent self-possession of a 
friend distresses me. 



FIVE OF THE TEN. 


213 


CHAPTER XII. 

FIVE OF THE TEN. 



S the reader will doubtless infer, I went, 
when driven from my home, to the home 
that Minnie had prepared for herself 
and friends, — another evidence, those I 
left behind me would have said, had 
they known of it, that I was just what Crandall repre- 
sented me to be. 

I found, upon reaching the place, that Minnie had 
changed her plans somewhat ; and, instead of leasing 
two houses together, she had bought two, one on one 
side of the town, and the other nearer the central 
portion. She had found a thriving inland town of 
some ten thousand inhabitants, where property was 
not unreasonably high ; and by doing this she could 
secure a greater degree of variety for the girls, each 
home forming its own circle of acquaintance, and 
then intermingling with each other as visitors. 

It gave, also, a better opportimity for remunerative 
employment. The reader will recollect, however, 
that their interests were one. They were a band of 
sisters, pledged to stand by each other, to divide the 
last crust, if need be ; so that the doom which society 
accorded them, that of wearing sackcloth the rest of 
their lives, or selling their bodies for bread, might be 
escaped. 


214 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


1 purchased the third house, and then we each had 
a threefold home. They boarded gentlemen only, and 
lodged no one outside of their own. Their boarders 
were generally those who neither drank, chewed, nor 
smoked. (This was not made an absolute condition, 
but they were given to understand that such were 
preferred.) And those who were the victims of these 
habits either left them ofP or went elsewhere. 

But they (I did not take boarders, but aided other- 
wise) made things so pleasant that but few left. It 
was understood at each home that all, inmates and 
boarders, were invited to spend an evening each 
week at each of the other homes ; so we went out 
twice, and received company once at each place. 
Music, select readings, games, and whatever else we 
could think of that was either instructive or amusing, 
filled up the time. 

Sometimes we would all join and go to some place 
of public amusement, which gave subjects for com- 
ment or conversation afterward. 

I had been there some three months when I said 
to Minnie that I should like to know the history of 
those girls, to hear what it was that first led them to 
the brink from which society had cast them down. 

They will tell you,” she said ; and so, the next 
afternoon, five of the original ten gave me their sto- 
ries, a short history of the steps taken to bring them 
w^here they were when Minnie came, and, like an 
angel from heaven, whispered the word Hope ” in 
their ears. 

The names of the five were Irene Bradley, Dora 
Fenn, Sarah Blackman, Helen Myres, and Mary Bliss. 


FIVE OF THE TEN, 


215 


Irene was tall and fair, and, as poets would say, 
had blue eyes and golden hair, though her hair Avas 
too dark for that appellation. She was as graceful 
in her movements as the willoAV, and looked as pure 
and sweet as the lily. And yet she had walked in 
the paths of sin, and the world had counted her lost. 

She began with, ‘‘I was the youngest of seven 
children, and the place of my birth a lovely valley 
between two of the highest of a range of hills in old 
Vermont. Three of us died in childhood ; and the 
two oldest, both sons, married and settled in the 
neighborhood ; leaving only myself and my sister 
Julia, two years older, at home. 

“Deacon Bradley, my father, was noted for his 
stern rectitude of character, and his orthodox views. 
It might be said of a truth that he feared God ; but, 
that love and trust are compatible with such fear, I 
do not believe. The frown of an angry God seemed 
ever before him, and mirth he regarded as a sinful 
mockery of the awful majesty of heaven. 

“ My mother, I think, was naturally the reverse. 
In a different atmosphere, I doubt not, she would 
have been a sunny, happy woman ; but this had long 
since been crushed out of her, or, at least, so sup- 
pressed that it never manifested itself in my father’s 
presence. But this element, so repressed in my 
mother, took its revenge by giving us, Julia and I, a 
double portion. Mirth, laughter, song, was as natural 
to us as the air Ave breathed. 

“Poor mother! how hard she strove to keep us 
from manifesting it in father’s presence ! and how 
often and how severely she was reprimanded because 


216 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


she failed ! As we grew older, we saw how much 
trouble it made her, and we were more careful when 
father was by ; but it was like damming the flowing 
stream: when the waters rose high enough, they 
would overflow. We used to talk about it nights 
after we went to bed ; we could not, we would not, 
stand it so ; we would break this bondage, or do some- 
thing desperate. 

“ Finally Deacon Smith’s only son, and only child 
also, asked father for permission to address Julia. 
He was very pious, and, being the heir, would, when 
the deacon his father concluded to step out, be rich ; 
and, of course, father was pleased. It was a greater 
blessing than he had ever dared to expect for his sin- 
ful child. 

‘‘ ‘ I do not love him one bit,’ said Julia to me ; ‘ but 
he is not bad looking, and I suppose I must marry, or 
always remain cooped up here ; so I guess I’ll take 
him. I wish, Irene, that you could live with me, and 
get out of this.’ 

I said nothing, but I intended to get out of this. 
I had met a handsome city youth down at Aunt Ma- 
bel’s a few months before, and he was coming soon to 
ask me of my father ; for so he had promised. I had 
not whispered this even to my sister, for there was a 
possibility of his being false ; I had heard of such 
things, and, in that case, I could not bear even a sis- 
ter’s pity. 

“ But he came, and my father questioned him as to 
his religion. If that was right, why, all else was sup- 
posed to be. Oh, horror ! his parents were Methodists, 
and he was not a member of any church. ‘ Give my 


FIVE OF THE TEN, 


217 


daughter to the son of a Methodist class-leader! 
Never ! I would rather bury her.’ 

Henry told me the result of this interview with 
my father, and begged me to elope with him. This I 
did not like to do, and probably should not have 
done, had not my father heaped reproaches on my 
head for encouraging ‘ such a reprobate,’ as he was 
pleased to call Henry. 

‘‘ This so aroused me that I resolved to be free 
from the tyranny I was under, let what would be 
the consequences ; so I went with my handsome lover 
to the neighboring State, and we were married. This 
done, Henry plead for a few months of secrecy, so 
as to get his business in a little different shape, telling 
me the whys and wherefores, till I was convinced it 
was for the best, and so consented. 

“ Aunt Mabel, mother’s only sister, lived close to 
the State line ; and under the excuse of visiting a 
young friend some three miles distant, and a ‘ perhaps 
I shall stay two or three days,’ I stole away to meet 
Henry. I remained away two nights, and then re- 
turned to aunt’s alone, with the pledge that in three 
months my husband would claim me openly. 

Henry had a sister some three years younger than 
himself, to whom he confided his secret ; and she came 
to see me the day before I returned to my father’s, 
and we talked the matter over. She seemed well 
pleased with me, as, indeed, I think she was ; but 
the love of money makes fiends of people, I some- 
times think. 

“ About a week before I was expecting Henry, she 
came again, and stole my marriage-certificate from 


218 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


me, at tlie same time telling me that Henry was not 
very well, and I need not be surprised if he did not 
come for me quite as soon as I expected. 

‘‘No, he was not much sick, she said, but was 
not able to get along with his business as fast as he 
had hoped to do. 

“ The very next day after she left, I learned that 
he was dead, was buried the day before she left home. 
There were three of the children, another brother and 
this sister, beside Henry ; and, when he found that he 
was going to die, Henry had told his brother also of 
his marriage. The business that he sought to accom- 
plish had been completed ; and he had secured a cer- 
tain portion of his father’s estate to himself by sign- 
ing away all claim to any thing further at his father’s 
death. 

“ This made him independent, though it gave liim 
much less than would have been his had he waited to 
share equally with the other children. His brother 
knew that if the marriage was proven, and I should 
bear a child, that child would hold his father’s prop- 
erty; otherwise it would go back into the family, 
his father being the next heir ; so he sent his sister 
down to find out if there was any prospect of mj 
becoming a mother, and, if so, to get from me the 
proof of our marriage. 

“ When I heard of Henry’s death, I fainted. My 
father was present, and, I think, began to suspect 
that there was something that he did not understand. 
When I came to, he questioned me ; and then, for 
the first time, I missed my marriage-certificate. In 
my desperation I told him all, for I felt a wild hope, 


FIVE OF THE TEN. 


219 


that he would take some step to prove my marriage, 
and thus save me from the disgrace that would 
otherwise come upon me ; but I was mistaken. 

“ I had disobeyed him, and there was no pity in his 
heart for me. He refused to believe that I had been 
married ; said that, if I would deceive in one thing, 
I would in another ; and calling me a reprobate, a 
child of the Devil, he turned me from his door, and 
bade me never to enter it again. I think my mother 
believed my story, and I know that Julia did; but 
neither of them dared to defend me, though they did 
for me what they could in secret. 

“ Well, I will not dwell upon the agony, the 
shame, of the next few months. Suffice it to say 
that my baby died, and I in my desperation took to 
the only life that seemed open to me ; everywhere 
else I was treated with scorn, but with the world’s 
outcasts I could meet on equal footing ; and, if there 
is a hell upon earth, it is to be surrounded by and 
obliged to mingle with those who scorn or pity you, 
or both ; I mean the pity that is born of scorn, a 
scornful pity. It is terrible.” 

Religious prejudice, and heirship of property,” 
said Rockman at this point. 

Irene looked at him as if to gather his meaning 
from the expression of his face. 

“ They were the two forces that caused your woe, 
and both accursed,” he continued. 

‘‘ I can not see how the heirship of property is 
wrong,” she remarked. 

And yet if Henry had not been worth a cent, 
or if at his death his property had gone into a public 


220 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


fund to be used for the support of all fatherless 
children, there would have been no inducement for 
his sister to have stolen your marriage certificate, 
and you would thus been saved all the disgrace, 
except that which arose from religious prejudice.” 

Mr. Rockman, I never thought of it in that 
light before,” she replied ; ‘‘ but you are certainly 
right so far as the effect was concerned.” 

“ To be sure, I am ; and by what right are rela- 
tives who have enough and to spare, made heirs of 
the property of those who chance to be of their 
blood, so said, when widows and orphans without 
number are needing it ? The selfish right of family 
clanship, and among those who claim to be Chris- 
tians too. Let those Christians who are so anxious 
to have God honored by this government honor him 
themselves by making it obligatory upon church- 
members, that all who are worth above a given sum 
shall not hold inherited wealth, but put it into a 
common fund for the benefit of the widows and 
orphans in the county where they reside. 

“ Let them do this, being no respecters of persons, 
but, like the God they say to worship, share this 
fund equally with all who need it of the classes 
named ; and then see how many children would 
become bitter enemies in quarreling over a dead 
parent’s money. See how many lawyers’ fees would 
*be paid to decide who should have it ; see how 
many sickly children would be left to die of neglect, 
or murdered by slow poison, or killed by accidents 
done on purpose, that rich relatives may become 
richer thereby. 


FIVE OF THE TEN. 


221 


Why, I sometimes think that such a change in 
our laws, or even in church policy, would do more 
to abolish crime than all that all our ministers are 
doing now. Society, as it is at present constructed, 
is one great tempting machine ; and if single men, 
or men with wives and without families, knew that 
what they gathered together would go, in case of 
their death, to all the needy women and children 
within their town or count}^, such knowledge would 
lead them to take more interest in such as were 
liable to become their heirs ; it would be a bond of 
love between them, that would bless all concerned.” 

‘‘ Uncle Eben, I wish you could be our law-maker 
for a time,” I said. 

‘‘And I would prefer that people should -make 
just laws for themselves. The Lord’s Prayer teaches 
us to say, ‘ Lead us not into temptation ; ’ and I would 
not like to try how much temptation, in the shape of 
power, I could bear ; I am but human.” 

“ Well,” said I, “ we will talk of this matter more 
fully at another time. I want to hear Miss Fenn’s 
story now.” 

“ I have not much to tell,” replied Dora, “ and 
yet you may think it considerable. My father was 
an Episcopalian minister ; and no Presbyterian or 
Baptist of the old school could be more strict. I 
had no childhood in any true sense of that term. 
When fifteen years of age, I met a man much older 
than myself, that I fell desperately in love with. I 
think my manner toward him must have shown him 
the state of my heart ; for he said to me one day, — 

“ ‘ Miss Dora, I would not wrong you for the 


222 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


world ; and your father with his strict ideas of 
things would never give you to me.’ 

I think I must have been what the world calls 
reckless ; for I looked him in the face, and asked, 
‘ And would you have me if he would give me to 
you?’ 

‘‘ He looked surprised, but replied, ‘ It would not 
be hard to love you ; indeed, I hardly know how one 
could help doing so.’ 

‘‘ ‘ Then I will be my own mistress long enough to 
give myself to you,’ I said. 

“ ‘ But you are under age, dear child, and I can not 
marry you without your father’s consent, unless I 
steal you, and leave the State.’ 

‘‘ ‘ I will steal myself, and leave the State, then,’ 
I said, ‘ even if I have to steal the money to go with, 
for I will not stay here ; I had as lief be in prison.’ 

“He sat for some time in silence. I think he must 
have been weighing the chances of my doing some- 
thing desperate if left to myself ; at length he asked, 
‘ Do you love me, Dora ? ’ 

“ ‘ I do, sir,’ I said. 

“ ‘ Come here, and let me take your hands inr'mine ; 
now look me in the face, and tell me why you love 
me,’ said he. 

“I did so, and replied, ‘ It is because I can breathe 
freely where you are. I feel free and light as a 
bird.*’ 

“ He bent his dark eyes upon me, and I shrank 
abashed beneath their gaze. At length he said, ‘ It 
shall be as you say, little one,’ adding, as if to him- 
self, ‘ it will be the only way to save you.’ I was 


FIVE OF THE TEN. 


223 


too happy to take in the full import of his words ; 
and that night I left my father’s house, and became 
the wife of Arnold Greyson. He was old enough to 
have been my father, but I did not care for that. I 
was as as happy as the day was long.” 

‘‘What of your mother? did you never think of 
her ? ” I asked. 

“ Oh ! I forgot to tell you,” she said, “ that my 
mother died when I was but ten years old, and I 
had a second mother who had one child of her own 
by a previous marriage, and one by my father ; and 
she seemed to care but little for me further than to 
complain to my father of what she called ‘ my way- 
wardness.’ So you see, I was not missed much at 
home. husband was not a man of property, and 
at the end of a year he was killed by an accident ; 
and I was left penniless. 

“ I was but a child, only sixteen years of age, and 
had never been taught to work ; and I was helpless. 
The lady with whom we boarded wrote to my father 
stating the condition I was in, and asked him to take 
me home. This he refused to do, saying that I had 
made my bed : I must lie on it. This cold reply 
aroused the lady’s indignation ; and she told me to 
stay with her till something better could be done, 
uttering at the same time an invective that was 
neither polite nor elegant against ministers in gen- 
eral and stepmothers in particular. 

“ After a little, an opportunity offered, and I 
studied for the stage ; there temptation beset me on 
all hands, and I did not try very hard to resist ; so I 
was soon counted an outcast ; but I do not think my- 


224 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


self SO much worse than thousands of others whose 
only advantage over us is in not having been found 
out. I think a woman who, as Irene’s sister did, 
marries just for a home, is just as much of a prosti- 
tute as one who sells herself otherwise ; it is a sale 
in one case as much as in the other. The difference 
is only the Government stamp upon a counterfeit 
marriage.” 

‘‘Yes,” said Irene ; “ and the woman who thus 
sells herself in marriage is very likely to have a 
lover outside of marriage. My sister would not dare 
to invite me to her home, or to speak to me on the 
street in the presence of her husband or any one who 
knew who I was ; and yet I have often helped to 
shelter her and her lover. For my part, I should 
prefer to live an outcast and done with it, to being 
in constant fear of detection.” 

“ Those who have no character have none to 
lose,” said Rockman. 

“ And hone to worry over,” she continued : “ so 
whatever of goodness one has is natural, sponta- 
neous.” 

“ Why, then, did you leave the life you led, and 
come with Minnie ? ” I asked. 

“ Oh ! to help her carry out her experiment. I 
wanted to see if the world, and especially the Chris- 
tian world, would let us be respectable, I am satisfied 
in my own mind that it will be no longer than they 
get some hint of our past.” 

Miss Blackman here remarked, “ You call both of 
these ladies Miss, while, according to what they tell, 
they should both be Mrs.” 


FIVE OF THE TEN. 


225 


“ How is this, ladies ? You both gave me your 
maiden names, and I have called you by them,” I 
said. They both laughed. 

“ We have neither of us given you our real names, 
neither do we intend to do so. We are not anxious 
to have people trace us out, and connect us with those 
who would be ashamed to acknowledge relationship ; 
some of them do not even know that we are living, 
and would much prefer that we were dead, even if, 
according to their theories, we were in hell : they 
would prefer even this to having us around to dis- 
grace them.” 

“ And for that very reason I would be around and 
disgrace them all I could,” said Sarah Blackman, her 
eyes fairly flashing. 

They all looked up, and Minnie said, You are a 
spunky piece, Sarah.” 

“Yes, I am, and I am glad of it. It was revenge 
that drove me to a life of shame ; and, if my father 
was living, I would be there yet. If I had a thou- 
sand bodies, I would lay them all upon the altar if I 
could by the means kill, and forever, that kind of 
respectability that is preferred before human happi- 
ness.” 

“ It seems to me a strange kind of revenge,” I 
said. 

“ I know it, but it was all that was left me. My 
parents were rich and proud, and more especially 
my father. I was their only child, and they desired 
to make a brilliant marriage for me. The man of 
their choice was rich, handsome, talented, and ambi- 
tious ; the man of my choice was poor. My father 


226 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


knew that I would never marry Edward Remmington 
so long as Herbert Stanton was about ; so he and 
Remmington planned to have him sent to England 
on business for them under so good a salary that it 
was an inducement for him to go ; for he hoped tf^t, 
with what he could save for the two years he was to 
remain away, he could furnish for me a home when 
he returned. 

‘‘ Father knew of our attachment, and had said 
that, if I chose to marry him, I could do so, but if I 
did I should never have a cent of his property ; so, 
when Remmington offered him the position, he had no 
idea that it was a plan to get him out of the way, for 
Remmington had only spoken to my father, and 
neither Herbert nor I knew of it. Soon after he left, 
however, I began to find that Remmington was my 
father’s choice, and that he desired to marry me. 

I told him plainly that I was engaged to Herbert 
Stanton, and should never marry any one else. He 
professed great sorrow that I could not love him, 
but said that he accepted his fate, and only asked 
the privilege of being a friend and brother. In that 
light I accepted his escort when I needed one ; and 
nearly a year had passed when I began to miss, in 
Herbert’s letters, the warmth that had hitherto 
characterized them. 

“ I had no suspicion of foul play, and it grieved 
me very much. Several months passed when one day 
I was startled by a letter from him upraiding me in 
the most bitter terms for my falsehood, and announ- 
cing, that, as he would as soon die as live, he had 
enlisted, and was on his way to the Crimea. He had 


FIVE OF THE TEN. 


227 


addressed me by my old name, he said, as he could 
never call me by any other. I took it to my father, 
and asked him what it meant ? 

‘‘ ‘ It means,’ said he, ‘ that he is false to you, and 
takes this way to get out of it ; ’ and then he showed 
me a letter purporting to come from a cousin of 
Remmington’s, stating that Herbert Stanton had 
married an English girl who was both beautiful and 
Avealthy. This letter, he said, had come to Remming- 
ton the week before, and they were studying how to 
break the neAvs to me ; but now this letter of pre- 
tension shoAved that he was so unworthy, he hoped 
I had pride enough to forget him as he deserved. 

‘‘ I noticed that father avoided looking me full in 
the face Avhile he was telling me this ; and I felt as 
sure of it as I do now that I knoAV it, that there had 
been treachery. 

‘‘ ‘ Father,’ I said, ‘ look at me.’ He did so ; but 
he could not look steadily and Avith a clear gaze. 

“ ‘ It is false, all false,’ I said ; but I said it so 
calmly that I Avondered at myself. 

‘‘ ‘ False : Avhat do you mean? •’ he stammered. 

“ ‘ I mean that you and Edward Remmington have 
been plotting together. But I shall never marry 
any one but Herbert Stanton ; I Avill find some way 
to let him knoAV of this,’ I replied. 

‘‘ ‘There is not much chance for that, for he will 
not be very likely to live to get back to America,’ 
he said, throwing off all reserve Avhen he found that 
he was defeated in his plan to finally marry me to 
Remmington. 

“ ‘ Then I shall never marry,’ I said. 


228 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


“ ‘ Well, I have saved myself the disgrace of hav- 
ing you throw yourself away on Stanton,’ he replied, 
‘ for I will see to it that you never marry him ; girl, 
if you think to foil me, you will find your mistake.’ 

‘ And, if Herbert Stanton does not live to get 
home, I will show you, sir, that I have yet the 
power left to disgrace you,’ was my calm but firm 
reply, as I turned and left him. I succeeded in 
undeceiving Herbert ; but his reply to me was writ- 
ten by another, for his right arm had been shot 
awaj^. The next news was of his death ; and, to 
have revenge upon my father for taking away the 
brightness of my life, to save himself the disgrace of 
having a son-in-law who was poor and the son of 
poor, hardworking people, I disgraced him by delib- 
erately taking up the life of degradation to which 
the pride of a hypocritical society consigns so many 
of my sisters.” 

How is that ? ” I asked : how is it that pride 
consigns them to such a fate ? ” 

“ Because pride, their own or that of relatives, 
will not permit the sons of the rich to marry poor 
girls ; yet there is a freshness, a womanliness, about 
such girls, that attracts these rich young men power- 
fully ; and, as they can not marry them without 
running into the face of almost insurmountable 
obstacles, they lay plans to get them without mar- 
riage, use their time and their money to accomplish 
this. To ruin a poor girl, is, in the eyes of the rich 
and respectable, a venial offense for a rich young 
man to commit ; but to marry her, an unpardonable 
one. Out upon such respectability ! ” 


FIVE OF TEE TEN. 


229 


It is damned respectability,” said Rockman. 

But not respectable to call it by that name,” I 
added. 

‘‘ I could not respect myself if I did not call it by 
its right name, madam ; and 

‘ One self-approving hour whole years outweighs 
Of stupid starers, and of loud huzzas.’ ” 

“ You must have a fund of poetry laid by to use 
when argument fails, you are so ready with your 
quotations,” I said, laughing. 

‘‘ This poetry is truth, though not all truth is 
poetry,” he retorted ; and I turned to listen to the 
next story. 

‘‘ Mine,” said Helen Myers, ‘‘is different from any 
of yours, and I think rather a peculiar one. I lived 
till I was twenty-five years of age as virtuous a life 
as the world need ask for ; but, after I was twenty, 
my health began to fail. I was very miserable most 
of the time, gloomy, despondent, had but little 
strength, and medicine seemed to do me no good. 
I suffered on till I was nearly twenty-five, when I 
was advised to go to a water-cure, or not altogether 
that, but a sort of eclectic institute, where various 
agencies were used, water and dieting being among 
the principal agencies. Here I grew to be better ; 
but I felt a strange attraction to the physician who 
had charge of the institute. I had never met any 
one who affected me as he did. No word passed 
between us upon the subject ; but I knew without 
words, that the feeling was mutual, and something 
that neither of us could help. 


230 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


He had a wife and two children ; and he paid me 
no more attention than he did the other lady patients, 
and yet I knew that he cared more for me ; and I 
felt, too, that there was no love between him and 
his wife ; and I afterward learned that she said she 
never cared for him more than she did for any other 
man, but he was good-looking, intelligent, and could 
give her a good home ; and she married him because 
she could take him away from all the other girls, 
and she thought it such a triumph. 

‘‘ ‘ Do you think he loved you ? ’ asked the one to 
whom she told this ; and she replied, ‘ Oh ! he would 
make a fool of himself if I would let him, and I had 
quite a trial with him for a while ; but I finally 
taught him that I was not going to have a man all 
the time kissing and petting me.’ But, like most 
women of this class, she liked to exact all the atten- 
tions from him that she considered her due as a 
wife. 

She wanted people to think that he was devoted 
to her, and she honored him by allowing it. I had 
been there some Aveeks, and was getting better all 
the time, when one morning he came into his room, 
and found me there. I supposed that he had gone 
out for the day, as he left with his wife and children 
about half an hour before, and was not expected 
back till toward evening. I hardly knew why I 
went to his room then, though I was assisting some 
about the house, and I sometimes swept out his 
office. 

I had done so that morning before he left, while 
he was visiting the patients who Avere not Avell 


FIVE OF THE TEN. 


231 


enough to leave their rooms. But for some reason, 
or without a reason, I had gone in there and sat 
down after he had driven away. I was surprised to 
see him, and started to leave the room; but he 
caught me in his arms, and I had no power to 
resist him.^ It seems that he had forgotten some- 
thing that he needed, and, leaving his wife to make 
a call on a friend some three-fourths of a mile away, 
had come back to get it. 

“ I staid there about ten days after that, and was 
so far cured, that I went to my brothers, with whom 
I made my home. The doctor and I never passed a 
word about what had occurred that morning, but I 
never felt so well in my life. I soon found, however, 
that something must be done, or I was ruined for 
this life ; so, to save my reputation, I, with the help 
of a friend, a lady much older than myself, suc- 
ceeded in destroying the result of that embrace. 
But it all came out in spite of what I did to prevent 
its being known ; and that through a letter I sent 
him when I first learned my condition, asking him 
what I should do. This his wife got hold of, and 
took pains to tell what she could of it that would 
injure me, and at the same time keeping his name 
back, claiming only that I had consulted him as a 
physician. 

‘‘ I, of course, could not make things any better by 
giving his name ; but it would, in reality, have been 
the worse for me had the public known that it was a 
married man with whom I had been intimate ; so I 

* This girl’s story, as was the preceding one, is taken almost 
literally from real life. 


232 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


kept still, and baffled their curiosity. But mj health 
was not as good after that, and my friends turned 
their backs upon me ; and I left them to go where 
every face would not flash scorn upon me, and that 
is my story.” 

‘‘ Such purity, and such respectability ! Heaven 
help us ! ” exclaimed Rockman. ‘‘ The crime that 
you did, Helen, was the one that respectability 
forced you to, to save yourself from the natural 
result of a natural attraction ; and the woman 
who took care to impale you upon the hook that 
saints are always barbing for sinners was as much 
worse than you are as the Devil is worse than an 
angel. ‘ Ye hypocrites, ye generation of vipers, 
how can ye escape the damnation of hell ? ’ 

‘‘ Make clean make clean, the outside of the cup 
and platter ; but think not that the filth within will 
escape the all-searching eye ! ” 

I had expected some such outburst from Mr. 
Rockman, and so made no comment, but turned to 
Mary Bliss with, And yours last.” 

“ And the worst, I presume you will think,” she 
replied. 

I hope not,” I said. 

‘‘ Well, I have no plea to make other than that I 
naturally loved men’s society, and felt that I had a 
right to it. I did not make myself ; and, if such 
desires make me vile, then my Creator is responsi- 
ble ; I am not.” 

I must say that I was astonished ; but I tried to 
show as little of it as possible, and simply asked, 
“ Why, then, did you leave the life you were lead- 
ing?” 


FIVE OF THE TEN. 


23S 


, “ Because I did not like it. I do not want what I 
do not like, neither will I have it,” she continued, 
her eyes flashing ; “ and if I had staid there I 
should have murdered somebody before this.” 

Must take more than you want of men’s society, 
and such as you do not want, or you shall live en- 
tirely alone ; for the men are all so pure that they 
will never marry such as you. Miss Mary,” was 
Rockman’s comment ; and she replied, — 

“We will see about that.” 

“ You had better keep your eye on that girl, or she 
will make you trouble,” I said to Minnie aside. 

“ And she will be sure to make me trouble if I 
attempt to watch her,” was Minnie’s reply. 

I retired that night earlier than usual ; not that I 
expected to go immediately to sleep, for I knew that 
I should not ; but I wanted to think. And this was 
the story of five out of ten ; and in every case but 
the last the evil had been induced, or made worse, 
through fear of the world’s frown, — in all except the 
last ; and she, well, even she, rejected by the world, 
cast out, she had to fight the deeper degradation 
which sought to force itself upon her. 

Family pride, religious pride, and prejudice, — the 
letter of the law held to be of more value than the 
spirit. O God ! who should solve the problem ? 
who should find the key that would unlock and 
bring to our knowledge the reconciling law which 
would harmonize these discords, right these wrongs ? 
And I too : what was it that had brought me to be 
the companion of the Magdalen ? By no deed of 
wrong had tliis been done; and yet, in the eyes of 


234 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


the great world, I was counted as one of them, yea, 
even as the most vile of all ; for Robert Crandall had 
made it appear that I was a sort of procuress in the 
disguise of respectability. 

True, I was not suspected here, neither were the 
others, and we all were trying to live rightly ; but, 
if the past were known, how soon those young men 
who boarded in those families, — the two into which 
Minnie had divided the girls, — how soon they 
would refuse to be seen going there ! how soon all 
support, all patronage that could aid them in earn- 
ing an honest living, would be withdrawn ! And 
even if this were not so, if there were those who 
would stand by them in their efforts to lead an hon- 
est life, the air of suspicion that would envelop 
them, the constant espionage to which they would 
be subject, would be enough to drive them wild. 

Yes, I lay there hour after hour, and thought of all 
these things, till my agony became so great that I bit 
my tongue, lips, and fingers, till I nearly brought the 
blood, to keep from screaming outright. 

Finally, I dropped into a troubled slumber ; and in 
it I saw a vast multitude of women, who were 
divided into three companies ; but, as I looked 
closely, I beheld that they were all chained. 

One company stood alone, and claimed that they 
always intended to stand thus ; but still they looked 
longingly toward a company of men who walked 
hither and thither at their will. This company of 
women were chained by the State ; for the law of the 
State said, ‘‘ Thou shalt not come close to man 
unless thou first compliest with the terms laid down 


FIVE OF THE TEN, 


235 


in the book of ordinances ; to wit, thou shalt be freed 
from the State bonds only on condition that a bond, 
a chain just long enough to bind two as one, take its 
place ; and, if thou darest to do otherwise, thou shalt 
be stoned in the market-place ; not with literal 
rocks, but with the scorn that is even of a more 
unyielding material.” And all the people, as this 
command was uttered, lifted up their voices, and 
said, “ Amen.” 

The second company stood behind a long row of 
men, though I noticed that now and then a woman 
had stepped to the front, and placed the man behind 
her ; but this was a rare occurrence. Now and then a 
man had also put his arm around the woman stand- 
ing behind him, and brought her up to his side ; but 
this was unusual, and she could stand thus only as 
he held her. The rule was, that a man could take a 
woman from the State, if she chose to go with him, 
upon condition that he bound her to himself ; and, 
because woman had this right to the choice of mas- 
ters, I heard a song of rejoicing, the burden of which 
was, ‘‘Freedom.” 

Now, it seemed to me in my sleep that this was a 
strange kind of freedom ; and, when I spoke of it, 
those standing by pointed to the third company of 
women, and asked me if I would prefer such free- 
dom as theirs. Then I looked, and beheld that these 
women, who were called free women, were in a most 
terrible condition ; for the women who belonged to 
the State hated them because they stood in the way, 
oftentimes, of their getting individual masters ; while 
those who stood behind the men hated them because 


236 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


the eyes of their owners often turned toward these, 
instead of looking lovingly over their shoulders upon 
those who were legally theirs. 

And I further saw that these women who were 
called free were really in the power of the State 
when it chose to oppress them ; and of not only one, 
but of all men who chose to claim them, indirectly 
at least ; and that, more than all this, both of the 
before-named companies of women were combined 
against them ; so that, in reality, instead of free- 
dom, they were in the most abject of all bondages. 
They were the scorn of all, and had the rights of 
none. 

I grieved in my sleep that this was so, and won- 
dered if there was none to help, when a voice from 
one that I could not see said, — 

“ I looked, and there was none to hel];), and I won- 
dered that there was none to uphold ; then my own 
arm brought salvation.” 

What does this mean ? ” I asked of one standing 
near. He looked at me as though he did not com- 
prehend ; and I said, “ Did you not hear the voice ? ” 
“ I heard nothing,” was the reply ; and again the 
voice said, ‘‘ Having ears they hear not, neither can 
they understand. I am that I am, and I reside within 
each and all as the power that can bring salvation, 
when they will turn to me : then I assert myself in 
them both to will and to do ; and they are made to 
feel a self-reliant strength, which they know is not 
of themselves, and still is one with them.” 

God within,” I murmured under my breath ; and 
the response was ‘‘God within.” 


FIVE OF THE TEN. 


237 


When T woke to outer consciousness, the sun was 
shining full in my face, and the sound of the words 
‘‘ A new heaven and a new earth,” were lingering in 
my ears. 



238 . 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


CHAPTER XIIL 

LIKE UNTO THE SON OF MAN. 

next evening after this singular 
sam, or vision, Minnie, Rose, Rock- 
in, and myself were sitting together 
my home ; and I told them of what I 
ve already told the reader, adding as 
I finished the relation, It is strange how Bible- 
scenes and the application of Bible-texts seem to 
mingle in with all that we think or do.” As I con- 
cluded, Eben looked up and asked, — 

“ Why, in what sense is truth like God? ” 

“ Because, like God, it is eternal,” said Rose. 

“ Eternal in its essence, but continually changing 
its form,” I added. 

“You mistake in saying that truth changes its 
form,” said Rockman : “ it never does.” 

“ I do not see how you can say that ? ” questioned 
Rose. 

“Can that which fills all forms change one 
form for another? The change is in us, — in the 
growth which takes us through one form into the 
next. We say that truth changes its form, and we 
say. the sun rises and sets ; both of which are appar- 
ently so, but really not so. It is in this sense that 
truth is like God; it is infinite in form, and a unit in 



essence. 



LIKE UNTO THE SON OF MAN, 


239 


‘‘But what connection has this with what I 
remarked about Bible-scenes ? ” I asked. 

“ Simply this : the inner life, the form of truth in 
such as constantly use the Bible as illustrative of 
life, is in harmony with the form of truth as there 
expressed.” 

“ And, if not really in the same form, they see it 
so,” I said. 

“Yes, Truth is in reality naked ; we clothe her to 
suit ourselves. I have somewhere read a story of a 
man who read a Bible-text wrong, but he deduced a 
truth from the mistake, and made his application 
accordingly. The text that he spoke from reads as 
follows ; “ And he maketh my feet like unto hind’s 
feet ; ’ but he read it ‘ hen’s feet,’ and then went on 
to say, — 

“ ‘ You see, my brethren, how God protects and 
provides for us. As the hen can clasp her feet around 
her perch, and go to sleep without the fear of falling, 
God having so constructed the muscles that they 
will not unclasp even while she sleeps, and can not 
watch for herself ; thus she sleeps in safety, for she 
is in God’s care : so we, if we trust in him, shall 
find that our feet will cling, even when the enemy 
thinks we must fall ; for God holds us, his everlast- 
ing arm is round about and beneath us.’ You see 
in this case,’' continued Rockman, “ Truth could 
bend around a twig with a hen’s foot as easily as she 
could skip over the mountains with the foot of the 
hind.” 

We all laughed heartily at Eben’s story, and asked 
him if he was relating some of his own ministerial 
experience. 


240 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘ I said I read it,” he replied, pretending to be 
offended that we should doubt his word. 

‘‘ Never mind,” said I, “ if he is angry: I have a 
story to tell that will make him good natured again. 
I did not read it ; but I heard a man tell it who 
said that a cousin of his was the minister in ques- 
tion.” 

That is more definite : let us hear it, aunty,” 
cried Rose. 

‘‘Well, it was like this: there is a passage in 
Revelation which reads, ‘ And I beheld, and, lo, a 
black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of 
balances in his hand.’ The minister, who was cousin 
to the man who related it to me, read, ‘ And he had a 
pair of bellowses in his hand : ’ then, laying down 
the book, he proceeded to make the application 
thus : — 

‘ “ My friends, these were not the bellowses that 
the housewife uses to blow up the fire, nor the ones 
that the blacksmith uses at the forge, but God 
Almighty’s eternal great bellows to blow sinners to 
hell with.’ ” 

This story was greeted with peals of laughter, 
and the declaration that I had beat Uncle Eben 
entirely. 

“ But he did not carry out the bellowses to the 
end : he had to make the word ‘ bellows ’ at last,” 
remarked Rockman. 

“ Oh ! that is nothing,” laughed Minnie ; “he kept 
up the added syllable till he got far enough away 
from balances to forget it, and after that it did not 
matter.” 


LIKE UNTO THE SON OF MAN. 


241 


“Neither does it make but little difference 
whether truth swings in the balance, or is blown 
through the bellows, I suppose you will say,” I 
added. 

“Not in the least,” said Rockman. “But this 
reminds me of some conversation that we had about 
the Bible, some time since, in which the idea was 
advanced, that the ‘ one like unto the Son of man,’ 
spoken of by the prophet Daniel, was a government 
that was to come upon the earth, which in its con- 
struction should correspond to the human constitu- 
tion.” 

“ And the writer who broached the idea further 
declared, if I recollect aright, that this nation is 
now, as to its form of government, like to a man’s 
body with the head of a beast,” I added. 

“ Yes : and I have thought very much of it since, 
and I believe that he was about right.” 

“ Will you please give us your ideas upon the 
subject. Uncle Eben?” asked Rose. 

“ I will try to do so, child. And, in the first 
place, I will say what you all know to be true ; to 
wit, a beast walks upon four legs, and a man upon 
two.” 

“ I believe we all know that, uncle.” 

“Yes, but you have not applied it to this problem, 
I presume, puss. We as a nation have ceased to 
bow down before our rulers : we walk upright, like 
men, like independent sovereigns ; we have, nation- 
ally, a man’s body. Now, what of the head? What 
is the difference between the head of the man, and 
the head of the beast ? ” 


242 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


“ I rather think, uncle, that the man has the most 
brain.” 

‘‘ In what respect. Rose ? more absolutely, or 
more in proportion to the faculties and powers pos- 
sessed ? ” 

More absolutely, I think,” she replied. 

And yet the beast has a brain organ for every 
230wer possessed, as well as the man.” 

“ You mean, uncle, for every power of thought, 
of intelligence ? ” 

I do. Rose ; and for every instinctive function 
also. Combativeness helps it to overcome obstacles, 
and destructiveness aids in securing its food; ali- 
entiveness corresponds to the stomach, and ama- 
tiveness to the procreative function. These are 
the names that phrenologists give to some of the 
organs in the base of the human brain ; and they are 
in common with those possessed by the animal. 
But there are other powers possessed by the human ; 
and these powers are represented in the human 
head, the human* brain. Each and every one of 
them are thus rej^resented.” 

“ And you think that this is not true of our na- 
tional head ? ” I said. 

I know that it is not ; indeed, in that respect, 
we have hardly the head of a beast, nationally 
speaking. Our governmental head makeS one de- 
partment do the part of two or three brain-organs, 
instead of having a department to represent each. 
Then look at the different classes in society : are 
they represented by distinct departments in the 
governmental head ? Not by any means. 


LIKE UNTO THE SON OF MAN. 


243 


We have in this representative district, doctors, 
lawyers, mechanics, farmers, manufacturers, mer- 
chants, &c. ; and all these must be represented 
in Congress by one man ; and not a woman there. 
A one-sided head that, a sort of blockhead. 

Suppose a lawyer is elected from this district ; to 
be true to his constituents, he must represent both 
the men and the women of every class and trade, of 
every profession and calling, in the whole district. 
It would be just as reasonable to expect that the 
organ of hope in the human head should act for 
caution, secretiveness, ideality, benevolence, sub- 
limity, conscientiousness, &c., — it would be just as 
reasonable to expect that this one organ of the 
human head should act for and represent all these 
separate powers of the soul, as to expect that a 
lawyer can fairly represent and act for all these 
different classes of people. 

“ But our governmental head has no organ, no 
department, separate and distinct from, yet acting 
with, the others, to represent these varying interests. 
It does not represent all the powers of its national 
body, its national soul ; so it is the head of a beast 
upon the shoulders of a man, nationally speaking.” 

And what are we going to do about it ? ” I 
asked. 

“ Educate the people to see that this is so first, 
and the rest will take care of itself,” was his 
reply. 

“ But when this government like unto the Son 
of man, one that has this harmony between the 
capacities of its head, and the needs of its body the 


244 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


people, — when this government is inaugurated, 
what then? ” said Minnie. 

“ It will break in pieces and destroy all the beast 
kingdoms, and it will reign over the whole earth ; 
for then the kingdoms of this world, the heast king- 
doms.^ will become the kingdoms of our Lord and his 
Christ; the entire human family constituting one 
grand man, with a head so related to the body, that 
it will provide for all the needs of that body, from 
the fact that there will be pain in the head, or suffer- 
ing of some kind, if this is not done. 

If our governmental head was so related to its 
body that every pain felt by the body was tele- 
graphed there by the nerves of sensation, in exact 
quantity and quality, think you that the people’s 
money Avould be used and the people's needs forgot- 
ten as they are now ? 

‘‘ But we have a beast’s head ; and how can it 
respond to the needs of a body like unto that of a 
naan?” 

‘‘ And do you really think, uncle,” asked Rose, 

that the one like unto the Son of man, seen by the 
prophet, is to be a government so perfect that it will 
endure for ever ? ” 

“ I think, puss, that this is as likely to be the 
true interpretation as any other. Truth, like God, 
is large enough to fill a nation, as well as small 
enough to dwell in a man. I do not see Avhy it 
can not sway a nation as one man, as well as to sway 
a nation through one man.” 

‘‘ Oh, dear ! ” said Minnie, “ I am sick of all these 
various Bible interpretations : what difference does 
it make, anyhow ? ” 


LIKE UNTO THE SON OF MAN. 


245 


You think, if you could find one son of man who 
would be loving and true, you would be satisfied, I 
presume,” laughed Rockman. 

If he should happen to suit me, I would ; other- 
wise not,” she replied. 

“ What a nice little housewife it would make ! ” 
he continued in the same strain. 

‘‘ You mistake, sir, I shall never marry ; but 
when that Son of man form of government is estab- 
lished, I presume that the kingdom of heaven will 
be set up on earth, and they will neither marry nor 
be given in marriage, but be like the angels ; and 
we can then have what love we need without being 
slaves.” 

‘‘ I wonder if they will put money out upon inter- 
est then ? ” said Rose. 

‘‘Yes, when people put a hand out upon interest, 
and expect two hands in return,” I said. 

“ What nonsense ! ” she retorted ; “ when the 
governmental head becomes perfected, and the 
national body is joined to it rightly, we shall then 
be one ; and you might as well talk of one hand 
eating the other hand, or of the heart asking interest 
of the foot, because it furnished the blood that made 
it a live foot. Suppose, now, that, for every ten 
drops of blood furnished by the heart to the foot, 
it should demand eleven in return?” 

Rockman clapped his hands. “ Bravo, little Rose : 
you have given us the best illustration yet, of the 
one-sided tendency of capital drawing interest.” 

“ Then I hardly think that poor folks will have to 
pay interest on their debts till they have more than 


246 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


paid the amount of the principal, when the one like 
unto the Son of man comes. I wish he would hurry 
along.” 

‘‘ Of course you do, Rose. I never saw a pretty 
girl who did not wish that some son of man would 
come.” 

“ That will do, uncle. I do not relish that kind 
of joking : my experiences have been too bitter.” 

Well, you may forgive me this time, if you think 
it will benefit you any to exercise that virtue,” he 
said with a mock gravity that made her laugh in 
spite of her efforts to the contrary. 

“ I wonder if woman will ever have to sell herself 
for bread when that form of government is inaug- 
urated ? ” said Minnie. 

‘‘ Of course not. What does the book say of it, 
or of what shall be done when one like to the Son 
of man comes ? If we accept one portion of it, there 
must be some connection of that which is accepted, 
with the rest of it,” said Rose earnestly. 

What does it say. Rose ? ” I asked. 

‘‘It says that the saints of the Most High, not 
such as we have now, pretended ones, but real 
saints, shall take the kingdom and possess it for ever, 
even for ever and ever.” 

“ Such saints can never defile woman,” remarked 
Rockman : “that is certain.” 

“ If that kingdom is to be set up upon earth, and 
there shall be no more sorrow nor crying when it is 
done, let us all work and pray for its coming,” said 
Minnie solemnly. 

Amen and amen, we responded; and we were 


LIKE UNTO THE SON OF MAN, 


247 


silent, though each continued to think how a gov- 
ernment could be constructed so that it would in 
reality be as intimately connected with the interests 
of the people, as is the head with the body. 





248 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


CHAPTER XIV. 

Minnie’s work 

ROGRESSED finely. The girls in each 
home so planned, that, after the neces- 
sary household cares were over, they 
had time for considerable other business ; 
they continuing to keep day-boarders 
(gentlemen) a number at least equal to themselves, 
sometimes more. This kept up sort of a balance 
between the two sexes, magnetically, holding the 
young men back from questionable places of rec- 
reation, and saving the girls from that isolation so 
common to sewing-girls. 

Commencing with two homes and ten girls, she 
had enlarged the number till there were four homes 
in that place ; and she had added, beside, one girl to 
each home, and to one of them two ; so there were* 
twenty-five girls there who had been counted lost, 
who were earning an honest living, and as many 
more in other places; and beside these there, were 
ten others, or, rather, ten that had been in these homes 
till they had been somewhat tested as to being in 
earnest in their efforts, who had been placed by 
Minnie, where they could become * skilled in the 
different trades pertaining to woman’s work ; and 
others had taken their places in the homes: sixty 




MINNIE WORK. 


249 


in all, besides two who had married, and gone to the 
Far West. 

“ And this in one year,” Minnie said to me one 
day, her eyes sparkling with delight at the thought ; 

sixty-two in one year ; at the same rate, ten years 
would give six hundred and twenty. That for my 
efforts ; while the others, many of them, will have be- 
come helpers long before that time.” 

I smiled on her enthusiasm, and was glad Avith her ; 
and yet, somehow, I rejoiced with trembling, for I 
felt as though they were only succeeding because the 
public, the great Christian public, did not knoAV 
their past. I was well aware, that should they join 
the church, and consent to be watched and patron- 
ized, being exceedingly humble and submissive, 
grateful for all the critical care that would be 
gratuitously bestowed, then they might be per- 
mitted to live if they could support themselves. 

But that they would be allowed to retain their 
independence, their self-respect, I knew could not 
be ; and I knew further, that these girls would ac- 
cept no such position, and there would be nothing 
for them but to go back to their old lives. 

And even if they would accept all this watching, 
all this criticism, hoAV were they to live ? Would men 
dare to face the world, and continue to board with 
them? Would they continue to treat them with the 
deference and respect that they now accorded them 
publicly? Would those men, who now went Avith 
them openly to places of amusement, continue to do 
so ? would they give them their sewing and Avhatever 
other work they could furnish, to aid them in secur- 
ing an honest livelihood ? 


250 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


They would not dare; and why? Because of 
those virtuous women who rule society openly. Such 
women know that men visit these women secretly, 
and they will not discard them for that ; but the wo- 
man^ she must be ostracised. Why are these things 
so ? There is a reason why, but I could not see it 
then ; I only knew that it was so. 

The next time Mr. Rockman came, I told him 
what Minnie had said, and my feelings upon the 
subject. 

“ Minnie is beniefiting herself, but is doing the 
world no real good,” was his reply. 

“ What do you mean ? ” I asked in astonishment. 

“ I mean just what I say, madam.” 

Doing no good ! Do you intend to say that these 
girls are no better off than when living a life of 
shame ? ” 

“ These particular girls may be, but it is only rob- 
bing Peter to pay Paul.” 

I looked at him in a dazed sort of way ; for I be- 
gan to get a faint glimpse of his meaning, and was 
not ready to admit the conclusion that must come 
if I accepted his premises. 

The human family is one,” he continued, “ and 
its interests are one, though people as yet are not big 
enough, — have not grown to the condition in which 
they can see this. That, then, which lifts one up at 
the expense of pulling another down is no real 
benefit.” 

“ But I can not see,” I said, “ how lifting these girls 
out of their degradation is going to pull others in.” 

“ It need not, if society were not constructed upon 


MINNIE'S WORK. 


251 


the see-saw principle. I suppose you know what 
teetering is ; have put a board across a log or through 
the fence, and sitting on one end, with a playmate on 
the other, have balanced up and down.” 

“ Of course I have ; was there ever a child who 
did not do this some time in the course of their child- 
hood ? ” and I laughed as I said it at the simpleness 
of the illustration. 

“ Yes, it is simple,” he remarked, so simple that 
you know that it is utterly impossible for one end of 
the l^oard to rise higher than that upon wliich it 
rests across at the center, without the opposite end 
going down just as far. Society is constructed upon 
the same principle : only they have loaded one end of 
the board so heavy that it is all of the time down ; 
this brings the opposite end up, and it is so high that 
^ those upon it can not stay there only as every inch is 
filled till there can be no sliding ; this forces those at 
the lower end to bear the weight of all above them ; 
and it is so great that the lower end keeps sinking 
deeper and deeper into the mud, while those above 
rest more and more wholly upon those upon it. 

Tliis being true, no one can manage to crawl up 
without crowding some one else down. They may 
not see who it is, may not see the connection be- 
tween another’s fall and their elevation; but it 
exists nevertheless. 

‘‘I do not see, then, as anybody can do any real 
good,” I said, with a despairing sob, a sort of chok- 
ing, which nearly took my breath. 

‘‘ The only real good, as I said of Minnie, is to 
ourselves ; it is educational. We try to do good 


252 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


under the present order of things, and, wlien we find 
that we can not, then if we have within us the per- 
severing good, if we do not become weary in our 
efforts at well-doing, we turn our attention to the 
principle upon which a better order of things can be 
constructed, a ladder or stairway upon which the 
angels can descend, and mortals ascend, without one 
interfering with another.” 

‘‘ But how is the present order to be changed for 
another ? ” I asked. “ I, for my part, can not see how 
it can be done when we are so connected one' with 
another, that it takes all our strength to keep our- 
selves and those others from falling.” 

“ Fall, if there is no other way to get out ; even if 
the whole fabric tumbles in consequence. I know 
that parents suffer, that children suffer, and that 
we are counted cruel if we dare to take a step which / 
causes them suffering ; and as we love our reputation 
too well to part with it, and are too selfish to want 
our friends to suffer, we keep on in the same old 
track. But he that loveth father or mother, wife or 
children, more than the truth, can not enter into the 
enjoyment of the blessings which Truth has in store 
for those who follow in her footsteps.” 

‘‘ Too selfish to permit our friends to suffer,” I re- 
peated, my mind fastening only upon that point : I 
thought it was self-denial when we refrained from 
doing what we desired to do, on the account of 
others.” 

“ It may be that, madam ; or it may be the most 
abject selfishness or cowardice.” 

If you will please, uncle, to explain this to me so 


MINNIE^ S WORK, 


253 


that I can understand just what you mean, I shall be 
very much obliged,” I said. I did this because I had 
learned from experience that he generally knew what 
he was saying, and, at the same time, I could not in 
the least see how it could be possible that self-denial 
could be selfishness ; so I put the question to him in 
as humble and deferential a manner as possible. 

He laughed in his peculiar manner, and said, “ Cer- 
tainly uncle will please to do that very thing ; and he 
will take the teeter — the board across the fence — as 
an illustration. We will first imagine the board to be 
a hundred times as long, and a hundred times as wide, 
and the fence correspondingly high ; and the whole 
so inclosed that there was no getting away unless the 
wall is broken down, scaled, or a hole made through 
it.” 

I interrupted him with, “ You have made a won- 
derful supposition now.” 

“ Well, it is a true one so far as its analogy to the 
present structure of society is concerned,” he replied, 
‘‘ for we are in just that condition. Let us look now 
at our supposed case. All along the bottom line are 
weak ones and strong ones ; and this is true all the 
way up. All along the bottom line are noble hearts 
of manhood and trusting hearts of womanhood, as^ 
well as selfish ones of each class ; and this is also 
true all the way up. 

‘‘ All along the bottom line are those who are, who 
must be, crushed by the pressure ; and this, too, is more 
or less true all the way up ; for there is side pressure 
as well as the pressure from above. Now look at 
them ; see them squirm. What a wriggling mass ! 


254 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


They can not help it ; in their child’s play, in their 
ignorance, they have got themselves into this con- 
dition, and they can not get out. 

‘‘ ‘ If I could make a hole in that wall, I could get 
out of this ; and, if I did not have to use my strength 
to keep my wife and children from being crushed, I 
could do it,’ is the conclusion arrived at by those 
who stop to consider the situation. 

‘‘The selfish man would say, ‘Well, I can’t stand 
tills : I am going to make a hole in that wall, or jump 
over it ; ’ and regardless of wife, children, or any 
thing else, he does so ; but wife and children are 
crushed. 

“ His neighbor says, ‘ What a selfish man ! I would 
die before I would do that : if we must perish, dear 
wife, we will all die together.’ 

“ Here we have a selfish man, and a generous, self- 
sacrificing man, as we find them at one standpoint. 
And we will now take a couple from another stand- 
point ; and we shall find, that, so far as immediate acts 
are concerned, their positions are reversed : the gen- 
erous, self-denying man doing what the selfish one 
did in the other case, and the selfish one acting 
apparently from the plane of self-denial. 

“ The selfish man says, ‘ If I could only turn my 
strength against that wall, I could beat it down, and 
then these people could get out. But there would 
be a terrible rush, and many would be crushed. 
Could I be certain that I could take my wife and 
children with me, or that I should not lose my own life 
in the attempt, I would do it ; but, as it is now, there 
is too much risk ; and, beside, if I use my strength 


MINNIE'S WORK. 


255 


to batter down that wall, I can not use it for the com- 
fort of my family, and people will say that I am only 
selfish in my efforts ; and I guess I will stay where I 
am ; but I really wish somebody would do that work, 
would open a way to escape from this.’ 

‘‘ Poor, weak, selfish coward that he is ! and yet he 
flatters himself with the terms, ‘duty, self-denial.’ 
His duty is staying by his family because he prefers 
to work for them, rather than lose his good name ; 
his self-denial consists in saving his own life, refusing 
even the risk of losing it, though he sees that he 
might save the lives of hundreds by so doing. The 
fact of having more light on the subject, the fact 
of seeing, of feeling all this, is what changes the 
character of his acts. Has ‘ uncle ’ made it plain 
so far ? ” 

‘‘ Uncle has made it plain ; ” I said, “ and he does 
not need to carry out the illustration, for I can under- 
stand now, how that which would look like selfish- 
ness to another might in reality be the grandest 
self-denial, the grandest benevolence ; and I never 
before saw so plainly the meaning of the declaration, 
‘ He that loveth father or mother, wife or children, 
more than Me, is not worthy of me.’ ” 

He made no comment ; and I continued, “ Do you 
think it would be well to tell Minnie what you have 
told me ? ” 

“ No : let her work at the problem a little longer 
in her own way. The Lord of hosts is preparing a 
goodly number to blow down the walls of J ericho ; 
and Eahab the harlot must do her share.” 

“ I hope, Mr. Rockman, you do not call Minnie a 
harlot.” 


256 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


“ Mr. Rockman does not ; but the world has counted 
her one, and would now did it know all ; while many 
of those that she is trying to save have really been 
such. Minnie is of the household of faith, for she 
has actually protected the spies, myself and Rose ; 
and, more, she has faith that she can save herself, and 
those that she is gathering from among society’s 
doomed ones, or she would never attempt it.” 

‘‘ Uncle, do you really live and move and have 
your being in the Bible ? ” I asked. 

Got off your stilts, have you, and can call me 
uncle again ? No, madam, I do not, but I seem to 
have a great deal of it treasured up, ready for use ; 
and it is in me, instead of my being in it. That it 
vitalizes and moves me, I do not question ; but it 
does not surround, envelop me.” 

You say, ‘ Minnie believes, has faith, that she can 
save herself and those with her ; ’ and you said a while 
since that she was doing no ‘ real good to the world.’ 
I can not quite understand in what particular sense 
you mean this.” 

‘‘ I thought I explained the principles involved,” 
he replied. 

Yes, but I want the particular application.” 

“ Ah, you do? Well, do you suppose there is any 
more sewing or washing done now, than there was 
one year ago ? ” 

I do not think there is,” I replied. 

“ Are there any more men who want board, in pro- 
portion to those who depend upon that method of 
getting a livelihood ? ” 

I suppose not,” I was forced to admit, though I 


MINNIE^ S WORK. 


257 


could but see that he was making me answer my own 
question. 

“ Are the influences that tend to crush woman any 
less, — the libertine any less determined to secure his 
victim ; parents who are rich and proud any more 
willing that their sons should marry poor girls ; or are 
ambitious, unprincipled young men any more willing 
to marry poor but worthy or really lovely girls, — 
than they were one year ago ? ” 

‘‘I can not see, uncle, that there has been any 
change in that respect,” I said. 

‘‘ One more question, and then I will make the 
application if you wish ; or you may do so yourself,” 
he said. “Has woman’s heart, woman’s nature, 
changed in any particular respect ? does she hunger 
less for love ? or is she any less liable to trust where 
she loves ? ” 

I only shook my head, and he continued, “ Then 
we have the same material to work upon, the same 
general relations one to another, and the same force 
to be expended ; only the particular relations have 
changed. Sixty girls have stepped out of the range 
of these forces, and are doing the work that sup- 
ported, that went to aid others in feeding and cloth- 
ing themselves. There is no more work to be done 
than before. 

“No particular sixty girls are deprived of all their 
means of support ; but there is a greater pressure 
brought to bear upon a large number ; and, through 
this extra pressure, at least sixty will be thrown so 
much more directly under the influences that made 
the other sixty what they were, that these will take 
their places.” 


258 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘ O God ! ” I groaned, burying my face in my 
hands, who shall deliver us from this state of 
things ? ” 

“ God manifest in the flesh,” he replied. 

God manifest in the flesh ! I have heard that old, 
old story long enough. We are told that God was 
manifest in the flesh more than eighteen hundred 
years ago, and the world is not saved ; we are not 
even taught to expect salvation for the masses, but 
only for ourselves and a chosen few,” I said bit- 
terly. 

All do not teach that : some claim salvation for 
all,” he said. 

Not here ; not of the body, not from the evils of 
this present condition ; we are only taught to endure, 
to be patient, to trust. I want a present salvation, 
one that will take hold of the whole people, and lift 
them up.” 

And God wants them to grow up, instead of being 
lifted up. Those who are lifted up must be held up ; 
while those who grow to the same height can stand 
alone, and, at the same time, aid those who are grow- 
ing. Poor child, groan away; they are growing 
pains. St. Paul says that ‘the sufferings of this 
present time are not worthy to be compared with the 
glory that shall be revealed ’ — where? not in Jesus, 
but ‘ in us.'" ” 

“ More Bible,” I repeated in the same bitter 
spirit. 

“ Yes, wormwood and gall for you to drink, while 
in your present state of mind ; but it is Bible that 
tells where God must be manifest in the flesh in 


MINNIE'S WORK. 


259 


order to salvation, — in us, in the race ; and we must 
grow ere we are large enough to manifest a saving 
degree thereof.” 

‘‘ But what of those who not get large enough in 
this life ? ” I asked. 

“ God will take care of them ; and there is room 
enough in the universe for them to grow, and time 
enough in eternity in which to grow,” was his reply. 

But that will not bring the redemption of the 
body, that Paul speaks of,” I said. 

I do not see why it will not, if we grow in knowl- 
edge till we can resume and take care of them, little 
woman.” 

‘‘ Only God can give us that power.” 

‘‘ And that is just what I am talking about, — God 
manifest in the flesh. If we grow till we can hold 
enough of God to enable us to re-clothe ourselves in 
the flesh, would not God be manifest in the flesh, our 
flesh, to salvation ? ” 

“ Oh, dear ! you are so metaphysical ! no, not 
exactly that, for you make things plain enough ; but 
it takes so long to bring about the result, that one 
gets tired of waiting,” I said. 

‘‘ If you can find a quicker way, do not wait ; I 
would not.” He said this with such provoking calm- 
ness, that, to my impatient spirit, it was like pouring 
oil on fire ; and, to avoid the storm that I felt rising, 
I turned and left him. 

Rebellious, was I ? I know it ; and I am not 
wholly cured of that fault yet ; but I am beginning 
to learn that there is wisdom at the helm, a wis- 
dom directing things, that is greater than mine. 


260 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


When I have fully grown to this, when the lesson is 
learned, then perhaps God can so manifest himself 
through me as to accomplish what, or a portion of 
what, I so earnestly desire. 



LOVERS CONFLICT. 


261 


CHAPTER XV. 
loye’s conflict. 

ERHAPS, by this time, the reader would 
like to hear something more of the Rev. 
Arthur Berrian. The night that I left 
my home, and stole away like the guilty 
thing I was not.^ I had intended leaving 
a note for the minister, telling him that it would be 
of no use to try to learn where I had gone, but, upon 
further thought, had decided that it would look like 
presuming that he felt quite an interest in me : so I 
did nothing of the kind. 

Neither did I leave any clew by means of which 
he could trace me ; and the first thing I did after 
reaching Rose, Minnie, and the others, was to impress 
upon them the absolute necessity of holding no com- 
munication whatever with any one in B ; for,” 

said I, “ if you do, Robert Crandall will be sure to 
trace us.” 

I had been there but a few weeks, when Rockman 
received a letter from Mr. Berrian, inquiring how 
things prospered, and asked if I was with them ; 

saying that I had left B , and he presumed I was 

aiding in carrying out the good work that had been 
planned. Rockman did not reply then ; but, having 
occasion to go to an adjoining town a few weeks 
afterward, he replied from there, saying, — 




262 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


Your letter has reached me, sir, but I am alone. 
I know where the others are, and the work they 
have undertaken is prospering ; but you know, sir, 
what the prejudices of society are, and you kno w 
also that there is one at least, whose malice would 
lead him to pursue them to the death ; therefore, 
though appreciating your kindness, I know that I 
speak their sentiments when I beg that you will 
leave us all entirely alone.” 

Months elapsed before we heard any thing fur- 
ther, and I had concluded that he had given us up ; 
but I was mistaken. He had heard something said, 
it seemed, when away from home, that, in connection 
with what he knew of us, led him to believe related 
to us. As near as I could learn, it must have been 
one of our boarders, who, while on a visit home, had 
entered into conversation with a friend about his 
business, and was trying to persuade the friend to 
return with him, and among the inducements offered 
spoke of his boarding-place, and mentioned a name 
which Mr. Berrian only partially understood, and yet, 
taken in connection with what else he heard, he de- 
cided to be Morris. 

Knowing what Minnie Morris was trying to do, 
he made another effort to learn where I was, and this 
time he wrote to her. She did not reply. A few 
weeks after, he wrote to Rose with the same result ; 
and in each letter he inquired for me. 

‘‘ He is in love Avith you,” said Minnie. I laughed 
at the supposition, but will confess that I had half 
suspected as much, and that it made my heart beat 
more quickly to have my suspicions thus strength- 
ened. 


LOVERS CONFLICT. 


263 


A month or six weeks more elapsed, and I re- 
ceived one myself. I did as the others had, took no 
notice of it. But he was not to be put off thus. 
In less than a month I received another ; and in this 
he said, — 

“ I am determined to find you, if I have to write 
to every post-office in the United States. I have 
written the postmaster, that, if this is taken out, to 
let me know immediately : so if you are there I shall 
know it, and, if I do not get a reply in a reasonable 
length of time, I shall come myself.” 

‘‘ Love is more persevering than hate,” was my 
comment when I read this ; for I no longer had any 
doubt of his love. I had suspected it before ; I 
knew it now. How was it with myself, do you ask ? 
Ah, there was where the difficulty lay. I loved him 
so well, I felt that I had rather die than bring the 
shadow of reproach upon him. 

But what should I do now ? Could I stay and 
meet him ? for if he came to the place he would be 
certain to find me. If I did not write he would 
come ; and if I did, and forbade it, would he heed 
my commands? I felt that he would not. Then 
my mind went to Robert Crandall. I thought of all 
that he had done, of the respect in which he was 
held by the world, of the malice which had prompt- 
ed him to misrepresent and defame me under pre- 
tense of caring for the morals of society. I thought 

how but for this I might have remained in B , 

and have accepted the love that I so hungered for, 
without the danger of blighting the usefulness of 
him I loved: I thought of all this, till, if there 


264 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


was ever murder in a human heart, there was in 
mine. 

True, had Robert Crandall been present, and in 
my power, I could not have carried out the feeling : 
I had neither the nerve nor the courage ; but, could 
I have seen him dead at my feet, I should have re- 
joiced. Then I recoiled from myself as the thought 
of Mr. Berrian, of Arthur, came to me. What 
would he think of such wickedness ? Was I worthy 
of a true man’s love, of the love of an earnest Chris- 
tian man, if such feelings could find place in my 
heart ? 

No, I was not ; and it was well, perhaps, that cir- 
cumstances had shown me this : otherwise I should 
never have known how wicked I was. And yet I 
might have known it ; for had I not turned with 
impatience, if not with contempt, from what seemed 
to me a too constant reference to the Bible ? But 
why should I see this now as wickedness, hardness 
of heart, any more than at any previous time ? was 
it because I was so in love with Mr. Berrian that I 
condemned myself from what I thought would be 
his standpoint of judgment ? 

My pride rebelled at this : I would be myself or 
nothing ; and thus the conflict went on through the 
livelong night, and in the morning I was no better 
prepared to take a definite step in any direction, 
than before. However, I must do something ; and 
in my desperation I dashed off the following note : — 

Mr. Berrian. 

Rev. Sir, — I am fully conscious of the honor you do me in 
the interest you take in my whereabouts, and as conscious that 


LOVE'S CONFLICT, 


265 


a further acquaintance can be of no benefit to either of us. 

The Hon. Mr. Crandall drove me from B , and the Rev. 

Mr. Berrian now drives me from this place. You can come if 
you choose ; but I shall not be here, neither shall I leave any 
clew by means of which I can be found. 

Respectfully yours, 


“ There! ” said I to myself as I sealed and directed 
it, “I guess that will settle the matter.” 

But the difficulty was not over yet. I had said 
that I would leave the place, and I intended to do 
so; but where should I go? Could I get things 
settled so as to leave before he would get there ? I 
was haggard with the loss of sleep, and the effect 
of the mental struggle through which I had passed, 
I was going to say ; but that would not have been the 
truth, for it was not yet over. I saw this as I looked 
in my glass, and said to myself, “ A pretty looking 
object I would be for Mr. Berrian to see now.” 

Rockman came in soon after, and, as he saw me, 
started back in surprise. ‘‘ What is the matter, 
woman? have you been struggling with fiends of 
darkness? the grip of old Apollyon himself could 
not make you look worse I ” he exclaimed. 

I had not intended to say a thing about the 
matter to any of them ; but somehow I was not 
myself. A something, I know not what, constrained 
me to act contrary to my intentions, and I placed 
Mr. Berrian’s letter in his hands. 

He read it, looked at me, and then read it again, 
and finally said, — 

“ Why should this distress you? ” 

I was not prepared to tell him why, and I blushed 
scarlet. 


266 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


Lest haply ye be found fighting against God,” 
he repeated. 

I was about to burst forth with an indignant pro- 
test against this persistent quotation of Scripture to 
meet every case that came up ; but the remembrance 
of what I had suffered the night previous calmed 
me, and I simply asked, ‘‘ What do you mean by 
that?” 

I mean that love, real honest love, is God, and 
woe to those who crucify him ! Love has taken 
possession of your heart ; and you are determined to 
cast out the heavenly guest.” 

True love will never knowingly bring shame to 
its object,” I replied. 

Oh ! there is where you have given the Devil 
place, is it ? What would you think of the man, who, 
having won a woman’s love and confidence, would 
murder her, because he so loved her that he would 
save her from disgrace ? ” 

‘‘I can not see what bearing that question has 
upon this,” I said. 

Stop,” said he sternly. “ You may deceive your- 
self in your pride, but you can not deceive me. You 
do see the bearing of my question : you know that 
Arthur Berrian loves you ; and you further know, 
that, to such a nature as his, love is no light thing. 
You love him also, and you are trying to kill his 
love, to render it hopeless, and at the same time 
endeavoring to crush your own heart, — a double 
murder ; .and all because you are too proud to allow 
him to decide whether he is strong enough to let 
your love cost him something. 


LOVE'S CONFLICT. 


267 


‘‘ If you could feel, that, in the eyes of the world, 
you could bring honor to the man you love, there 
would be no difficulty. You pay small compliment 
to his manhood, when you thus practically sa}^ that 
he is not strong enough to meet and battle down 
unjust reproach. Oh, pride, pride, what a subtle 
devil thou art ! ” 

I can not describe the contending feelings that 
possessed me while he was speaking ; and I made no 
reply to this outburst. Presently he continued, — 
Fight away ; you need the discipline ; God’s 
chosen ones must be tried as by fire, and you will 
find yourself at length.” 

I looked at him inquiringly. 

“Yes,” he repeated, “you will find yourself; and 
then 3^ou will overcome the world, will cast it out, 
and its smile or its frown will no longer influence 
your decisions. What if the world does demand 
that a minister’s wife should be above reproach ? does 
he serve the world, or God? Was the Master who 
overcame the world free from its reproach? His 
heart has gone out to you, yours has responded ; and 
through that double voice God has spoken, and 
declared that ye are one : will you, at the world’s 
command, try to put asunder what God hath joined ? 

“No man, no woman, can bless the world till, like 
Jesus, they are lifted above it ; hold themselves, or 
are held by the power of God, and their faith in him ; 
are thus held where thej^ can draw the world up- 
ward and ” — 

“ But I am not fit to be a minister’s wife,” I burst 
forth. 


268 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘Do you know what he wants better than he 
does ? 

‘If you tarry till you’re better, 

You will never come at all/ 

“ So says the hymn of invitation, and it tells the 
truth. When God sends the blessing of a great love 
to the human soul, it has no right to reject the gift.” 

“ One would think you were pleading for your- 
self, you talk so earnestly,” I said at length. 

“ That is because I love my neighbor as myself,” 
he replied ; and just then the door-bell rang. 

“ I will go,” he said, “ and give you time to put 
on a company face : you do not want to meet any 
one with such a dubious-looking countenance as 
that.” 

I left him to do as he suggested, while I went and 
washed my face and hands, brushed my hair, and 
tried to bring back m}^ natural look ; for, as before 
said, I was haggard with the loss of sleep, and with 
the mental struggle that was upon me. When I 
returned to learn who had called, I was confronted 
with the Rev. Mr. Berrian himself. He came quickly 
forward with the assurance of a man who loves, and 
feels that he is beloved. After getting his note an- 
nouncing his determination to find me at all hazards, 
the thought of meeting him had almost taken my 
breath ; but my sense of personal right, when once 
roused, was very strong ; so that instead of being 
confused, flustered, at this unexpected meeting, I 
was politely self-possessed. 

“ I replied to your letter, Mr. Berrian,” I said as 


LOVE'S CONFLICT, 


269 


soon as we had exchanged greetings, but I hardly 
think you could have received it as soon as this.” 

The coolness of my manner did not disturb him 
in the least; or, if so, he did not show it, but 
replied, — 

“'No: I decided not to wait, but started immedi- 
ately upon receiving the postmaster’s dispatch.” 

“ Dispatch ! he telegraphed, then ? ” 

‘‘ Yes : did you suppose that I should tolerate any 
unnecessary delay when I had once decided that a 
thing must be done ? neither was I desirous of rais- 
ing any needless obstacles, so I dodged your letter ; 
for, being ignorant of its commands, I could not be 
censured if I disobeyed them. Why did you steal 
away like a thief in the night, and thus spoil my 
well-laid plans ? ” 

‘‘ I left,” I replied, “ because I did not wish to 
raise a conflict between you and your people.” 

‘‘ How, in what way, would you be likely to do 
that ? ” he asked. 

‘‘ Because of being .placed in a false position. 
That wretch, Crandall, had scattered his slime among 
them, so prejudicing them against me that I could 
feel it in the very air, as I walked the streets ; and I 
thought I knew you well enough to be assured that 
you would defend the right at all hazards, so I took 
myself out of the way.” 

Thanks, fair lady, for your good opinion of me ; 
and yet I wish it had not been quite so good, in one 
particular at least.” 

‘‘ How ?” I asked in surprise. 

‘‘ One’s intentions, motives, may be good, and pur- 


270 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


pose to do, strong ; but the power to execute may be 
Aveak. It seems that you had so much confidence in 
my ability that you thought I needed no assistance, 
so left me to fight the battle alone.” 

‘‘ You have placed the subject before me in a new 
light, I will acknowledge,” I said ; ‘‘ but I see no 
reason why there need to have been a conflict after 
my leaving.” 

He smiled, and replied, ‘‘You will pardon me, 
please, if I point out what seems to me as evidence 
of quite a different estimate of my humble self than 
you professed a short time since ; and I am sorry to 
find that you really have so poor an opinion of me.” 

“ Poor opinion of you ! ” I repeated in a tone that 
I had not intended, but which would have betrayed 
to the most careless observer the state of my feelings 
toward him. The look he gave me told me what I 
had done. 

“ Yes,” he replied without seeming to notice my 
confusion: “ had the case been reversed, would you 
have kept silent, and have heard me unjustly 
blamed? I know that you would not; you would 
defend the absent when wronged, no matter who it 
might be : and yet, though declaring that you knew I 
would stand by the right, you coolly tell me, that, if 
you left, there would be no necessity for a conflict 
between my people and myself.” 

“ I certainly never thought of it in that light,” I 
said at length ; “I supposed, if I left, the subject 
would be dropped, and nothing further said about 
it.” 

A hearty laugh was his first response to this, and 


LOVERS CONFLICT. 


271 


then, “ Little you knew of the world as found in the 
church, if you imagined that so rich a bit of scandal 
would be dropped so readily ; people are too hungry 
for a sensation for that.” 

Rockman had sat quietly by, making no comment, 
but now he remarked, ‘‘ Your leaving was taken as 
conclusive evidence of guilt ; and Mr. Berrian had so 
much the harder task to defend you.” 

“ They might come to what conclusions they chose 
about me, if” — I stopped in confusion ; for, in my 
impatience at being defeated with my own weapons, 
I was on the point of making an admission that I 
did not wish to. 

‘‘ You did not care if they would only let me 
alone,” he said, finishing the sentence for me. 
‘‘ Thanks for that admission ; it opens the way for 
me to hope that you will allow me to take the same 
interest in yourself, only with this difference : in- 
stead of running away to induce them to let you 
alone, I will stand my ground ; and they shall let 
you alone, so far as this or any other scandal is con- 
cerned, or I will make them give a reason why.” 

‘‘ How can you do your people any good,” I per- 
sisted, “ if you so arouse their prejudices that they 
will not listen to you ? ” 

“ And how can I do them any good, if I allow a 
cruel wrong to go unrebuked because I am too weak 
or too cowardly to speak ? ” he asked in reply. 

‘‘ It is of no use for me to contend with you two,” 
I said, “ for, what one can not think of, the other 
wHl.” 

“ I am glad to hear that,” said he, ‘^for it embold- 


272 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


ens me to make a proposition to which I feared you 
would not give your consent ; but, if you ackno\vl- 
edge that it is of no use for you to contend further, 

it gives me a hope that you will go back to B 

with me, and help me to fight this battle to the 
end.” 

‘‘ Oh, I can not ! ” I said. 

“ I want you to go as my wife,” he continued 
without heeding my remark. ‘‘ As such, people will 
know that I believe in you ; and together we may 
be able to unearth this man Crandall, to show him 
in his true character to those who now believe in 
him, and condemn an innocent woman because she 
has befriended his victims.” 

He had used the best argument that he could have 
brought to bear. I do not mean that the simple fact 
of his proposing to try and show Crandall’s real char- 
acter would have induced me to marry him or any 
one else, or that I would have married one man for 
the purpose of being revenged upon another. No 
such motive could have influenced me for a moment 
where love was wanting ; but the reader will remem- 
ber that I loved Arthur Berrian, and that he loved 
me ; and they will remember, further, that Robert 
Crandall, in casting suspicions upon my character, | 
had placed me in a position, that the more I loved | 
Arthur Berrian, the more reason it furnished me for 
refusing to marry him, judging of pure love, self- 
sacrificing love, from the standpoint I did. 

I felt that he was a useful man, and that, to do . 
the good of w^hich he was capable, his reputation, 
and that of all connected with him, should be stain- 


LOVE'S CONFLICT. 


273 


less. It would be my happiness to be his wife, but 
my happiness must not come between him and the 
good that he might do. But if I could secure my 
own happiness, and, in so doing, aid him in accom- 
plishing greater good, could aid him in unmasking a 
most consummate hypocrite, it placed the subject in 
so different a light, that my objections were robbed 
of all their weight. 

Still I would not yield readily : so I asked, Have 
you reason to think that you can do that? ” 

‘‘ With your aid I think I can.” 

“ And if you should fail? ” 

‘‘ I shall have saved myself the worse failure of 
losing my self-respect because I did not try. Do 
you not see,” he continued, “that it is a test of 
strength between my congregation and myself? 
Shall I be able to lead them beyond the sphere of 
narrow prejudice, to the open sunlight of fearless in- 
vestigation ? or shall I permit them to hold me to 
their present standard ? 

“ Now, if I can prove to them that this man, who 
pretends to have such an interest in the moral wel- 
fare of the community, is a hypocrite, and that those 
acts which they look upon as evidence of the black- 
est of crimes were only prompted by the human 
love, the Christian charit}^, which, if more were exer- 
cised, the world would be the better for it, then I 
have gained an advantage which will enable me to 
lead them into fields of open conflict with the pre- 
vailing sins of the age : otherwise I shall show that 
I am not strong enough to lead, and must be content 
to serve.” 


274 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘ You desire to test your strength ? ” I said. 

I am called upon to test my strength ; and, as 
you have been made the occasion, I want you to aid 
me by coming to my side, instead of standing off like 
a dead weight with a long string attached.” 

I laughed at the quaintness of the illustration, and 
asked, Why not show your valor, test your strength, 
by cutting the string, and letting the dead weight 
go?" 

Because my heart is with the dead weight, and 
refuses to return to me ; and a heartless minister is 
of but little account,” was his prompt response. 

But 1 am not a Christian,” I persisted. ‘‘ I do 
not believe in the divinity of Jesus, nor in the infal- 
libility of the Bible ; and a pretty minister’s wife I 
would make.” 

‘‘Tell me that you do not believe in the divinity 
of the love he manifested, of the sweet charity that 
he was ever showing toward the weak, the unfortu- 
nate, the erring ones who thronged his path ; tell me 
that your heart does not respond to these character- 
istics of his nature ; and tell me, further, that you do 
not love me, can not return my love ; tell me all this,” 
said he, looking at me with a gaze that held me, “ and 
then I will urge no more.” 

“• I did not mean to say that I had no sympathy 
with the character of Jesus,” I replied. 

“ Well, tell me that you do not love me, then, and 
I will urge no further.” 

I was silent. Mr. Rockman left the room ; and he 
came close to my side, took my hands in his, and said, 
“ Do not, oh ! do not, with your false reasoning, so 


LOVERS CONFLICT, 


275 


wrong yourself and me as to refuse what I ask ! We 
have a right to be happy, and, in being so, shall be 
doubly able to bless others.” 

I was still silent ; and then he drew my head to 
his breast, for I had no power to resist him : he had 
conquered. 

When he returned to B the following day, he 

carried with him my promise to be his in three 
months ; and thus ended my attempt to run away 
from love, from duty, because the path that I was 
called to walk in must be cleared to let in the sun- 
shine. 

Minnie and Rose were jubilant, and Rockman be- 
haved more like a boy of fifteen than any thing else ; 
while I, now that I felt I might, listened hourly to 
the music with which the singing birds of gladness 
were filling my soul. 

My head and my heart were reconciled, and I was 
more than glad, — I was happy. 

Yes, I was happy ; and I felt like modifying the 
poet’s words, and making them my own, for — 

Such an aurora of halo resplendent 
Seemed to the world and the universe given, 

That earth was enwrapped in a glory transcendent 
Close in the tender embraces of heaven.” 

O love, creating love ! thou sweet connecting link 
Between the human and divine ! through thee 
The poet evermore walks in a world elysian, 

And life becomes a sanctity, and earth a sacred shrine.” 


276 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


CHAPTER XVI. 

KEYS AND FINGERBOARDS. 

DON’T believe it.” 

Arthur came to visit me once during 
his probation ; and such were the words 
he used one day, after Minnie had been 
discussing her plans, telling her experi- 
ences, &c. 

He had been sitting as if in thought for some min- 
utes after she left, and I was surprised to hear him 
speak out so abruptly. 

‘‘ Don’t believe what? ” I asked. 

In the doctrine of total depravity.” 

“ Be careful, sir, or you will lose your ministerial 
caste, and I shall be blamed for it,” I laughingly 
replied. 

He looked at me a moment, and then said, ‘‘ What 
put that idea into your head ? ” 

What idea? I expressed two, I believe.” 

“ That you could be blamed for any honest con- 
clusion to which experience or investigation might 
lead me.” 

Simply because ‘ Eve did it ’ has become in- 
grained into the very life of the race ; so I guess the 
idea got there without being put in ; it came as Top- 
sy did ; it growed.” 



KEYS AND FINGERBOARDS. 


277 


Suppose I should tell you that you really are at 
the bottom of my heterodoxy, little woman.” 

‘‘ I should say, sir, that I had not tried to exert any 
such influence over you, but had sought to conform 
my religious views to yours.” 

He looked up archly. ‘‘ You haven’t promised to 
obey me yet, have you ? ” 

“ Indeed I have not ; neither do I intend to. I 
mean to have the ceremony performed by one who 
will leave that part out, sir.” 

‘‘We shall see, we shall see how that will be ; and, 
to test you, I am going to lay a command upon you 
now ; and I want you to promise to obey, and impli- 
citly too.” 

I was going to retort playfully, but he looked so 
serious that I only asked, “ What is it ? ” 

“No, I will not command, but rather entreat, that 
you will never try to conform to my religious views 
again. I want a woman who thinks for herself, and 
not one who only reflects my ideas.” 

“ Ah, indeed, my good sir ! that sounds nicely,” I 
said, my spirit of mirth returning ; “ but you hardly 
acted upon it when you was here before. You strove 
hard enough to make me think as you did.” 

“ So I did, and so I shall continue to do, my dear ; 
but you were not trying to think as I did : you were 
trying right the reverse, and only yielded when con- 
vinced.” 

“ I understand you now,” I said ; “ and I will make 
the promise ; so look out. for some mighty conflicts, 
and it may sometimes be yourself that will be con- 
vinced.” 


278 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


“ And, when I am, I shall yield, and be happy in so 
doing ; but I have not told you in what sense you 
have been the means of changing some of my ideas. 
There is something in your presence that acts, well, 
I will say, as a key to my intellect, unlocking cham- 
bers of thought before unexplored. It seems as 
though my being was quickened with a new life, a 
new light.” 

‘‘ I hope the latter will not prove an ignis fatuus^'^ 
I said. 

“No danger ; it is a living, not a dead, element 
from which it springs, for it brings life with it. And, 
as to this total depravity doctrine, how can I believe 
it, when I see such a woman as Miss Morris, one 
whom the world counts as degraded, and the church 
looks upon as belonging to the vilest of the vile, — 
when I see her planning and sacrificing for the good 
of others with an earnestness that puts my efforts to 
the blush?” 

“ Is there not a passage of Scripture,” I asked, 
“ that speaks of being ignorant of Christ’s righteous- 
ness, and going about to establish one of our own ? ” 

“ That may be true in some cases, but not in this,” 
he replied. “ She is not thinking of herself, of gain- 
ing God’s favor, or of evading his anger : these mo- 
tives do not seem to influence her at all ; but simply 
to do good for the love of doing so, to bless and 
save others, is her object.” 

“ I believe you are right in your estimate of Min- 
nie,” I said ; “ and, as you repudiate the doctrine of 
total depravity, I will give you some insight into my 
ideas upon nature’s laws.” 


KEYS AND FINGERBOARDS. 


279 


‘‘ I really wish you would,” he replied. 

“ You, sir, have called my influence upon you a 
key. I believe that nature’s protests, as expressed 
through the human soul, are nature’s prophecies.” 

“ How is that ? ” he asked. 

I believe that nature’s protests are nature’s pro- 
phecies ; to wit, nature protests against the violation 
of her laws ; she does this in various ways, but it is 
sure to come in some form. Now, would this con- 
tinue to be done from generation to generation, and 
from age to age, if such protests were of no use ? — 
if it were not a declaration that we have the innate 
power to fulfill, and a prophecy that this power will 
yet be so unfolded that the knowledge will come 
through which the power can and will be applied.” 

He opened his blue eyes wider and wider as I pro- 
ceeded ; and, when I ceased, he burst into a hearty 
laugh. I could not quite see what I had said that 
was laughable ; and I think my countenance must 
have expressed as much, for he hastened to say, — 

“ A nice piece of work you would make, trying to 
conform to some one else’s religious views, with such 
clear, well-defined ideas of your own; but please 
go on, and I will try and not be so rude again.” 

‘‘ I do not know, sir, as I can say any more now ; 
for you have scattered my ideas as completely as the 
report of a pistol would a flock of birds.” 

“ I suppose I shall have to wait, then, till they 
collect again ; but you may be sure that I shall be on 
the watch.” 

Yes,” I added, “ I have one thought left ; nature’s 
promptings are nature’s fingerboards, pointing the 
way to the fulfillment of her prophecies,” 


280 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


And, with such ideas, you have tried to conform 
to my religious views. Do you not know that your 
fingerboards point directly the other way, or, as the 
darky said to his questioner, would spoil all ^de 
feology ’ in the world ? ” 

It was my turn to laugh as I said, “ If you do not 
use the key, nor go as the fingerboard points, they 
will neither of them harm you, sir.” 

But the key is self-acting ; and, if the fingerboard 
should be of the same nature, what is a man going 
to do ? ” 

‘‘ Keep entirely out of the way of both,” I said. 

‘‘ Ah, but I can not close the chambers of thought 
that have been unlocked ; I can not quench the light 
with which they have been illumined ; and, as one of 
nature’s promptings has led me to your side, I shall 
not fear to go where the next fingerboard points.” 

‘‘ Follow, then, at your own risk; but here comes 
Rockman and Rose,” I said, as I ran down to meet 
them. 

“ I have a suggestion for you from Minnie, Mr. 
Berrian,” said Rockman as soon as they were seated, 
and I think it a good one.” 

I shall be happy to hear it, Mr. Rockman.” 

“ Well, we have been talking of the position you 
occupy in reference to Robert Crandall, and the 
difficulty there will be in counteracting the preju- 
dice he has raised against our friend here ; and she 
wished me to ask you if you had stated to any one 
any of the circumstances of his life as you know 
them from us ? ” 

I have not ; there has been but little said to me 


KEYS AND FINGERBOARDS. 


281 


on the subject that he excited the people’s prejudices 
over ; and, when it has been referred to, I have 
simply said, that there was another side to that 
matter, which, when known, would put things in 
quite a different light ; and, when questioned as to 
what I referred, I have replied that I should wait 
till I knew something more before I said any thing 
further than to declare that I knew the inferences 
that had been drawn in reference to at least one 
of the ladies were entirely unjust.” 

‘‘ Well, then, my way is clear for the suggestion. 
Minnie says, that, if you approve, she will prepare in 
substance what she knows of Robert Crandall, con- 
necting it with Rose, herself, and aunty here, but so 
wording all that persons or places will not be sus- 
pected ; she will make it short, put it in circular 
form ; and you are to take them, and see that they 
are well distributed through your congregation, tell- 
ing them that they were given you by parties that 
you have recently met ; that they purport to be, 
and you have reason to believe that they are, a 
statement of facts.” 

‘‘ I will think of this,” said Arthur. “ Has she 
any particular time when she thinks that they should 
be circulated ? ” 

She thinks that the sabbath before your mar- 
riage will be the best time, and that it would be 
well to state that you have been informed that one 
or more of the parties named in the circular will be 
there on the following sabbath.” 

“ Give me an hour or two to decide, and then I 
will tell you what 1 think,” he said, taking his hat 


282 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


and leaving the house ; but, before doing so, he came 
around to where I was sitting, and stood at least 
five minutes, making no remark, but, taking a por- 
tion of my work in his hand, seemed intent upon 
its examination. 

“ Is it well done ? ” asked Rose. 

He looked at her, then at me, sipiled, and walked 
out of the door. I understood him. I knew that 
he was seeking that which he had called the key, to 
wit, what Swedenborg would designate as the in- 
fiuence of my sphere ; and I can not tell you what a 
thrill of pleasure it gave me. 

He returned in about an hour, and brought Minnie 
with him. We discussed the pros and cons for 
perhaps another hour; and then Arthur said, We 
will move along in our own path, doing what we 
think is right ; and, if occasion requires, we shall 
find means to defeat the enemies that rise up against 
us ; till there is need to act, we will not plan to 
meet or to forestall the evil. God will take care of 
it.’^ 

‘‘ Perhaps you are right,” said Minnie ; “ and any 
thing that I can do to put down that hypocrite will 
not be wanting, you may rest assured.” 

“ And if we proceed against him in a spirit of 
bitterness we shall certainly fail,” was his reply. 

“ I wish I could put away all bitterness out of my 
heart, and for ever, Mr. Berrian,” she replied as the 
tears started ; but when I think of the wrongs to 
which thousands, yea, hundreds of thousands, of my 
sex are subjected, I feel sometimes as though I 
would like to spit wormwood and gall upon such a 


KEYS AND FINGERBOARDS. 


283 


condition of things, till it was sunk to the depths of 
hell.” 

“ You speak strongly, Miss Morris, and I do not 
wonder at all that you feel these wrongs intensely ; 
but remember that this life is not all,” Arthur re- 
plied with a deep sympathy in his voice that set the 
tears she was endeavoring to suppress rolling in 
streams down her cheeks. 

These were followed by choking sobs that seemed 
to rend her very soul. I had never seen Minnie 
weep before ; and now it was as though the pent-up 
agony of years had broken through and would not 
be stayed. We could not help it, we all wept with 
her ; and those tears did more to bind our hearts in 
one, than all c4se that had occurred. I resolved 
then and there, that, let what would come, I would 
under no circumstances shrink from recognizing 
Minnie Morris as a friend and sister; and when I 
told my husband of that resolve, one week after our 
marriage, he blessed me for it. 

It may be hard to do ; ” he said ; ‘‘ but we must 
overcome the world, or it will overcome us ; and, 
when it has done this, it will bind us hand and foot, 
requiring the most abject submission to its com- 
mands and demands.” 

“ The very words that Mr. Rockman used when 
contending with me for holding out against your 
love ! ” I exclaimed. Not exactly the very words 
either ; but he said that when I had found myself I 
would overcome the world, I would cast it out, 
would so renounce it that its smile or its frown 
-would no longer influence my decisions.” 


284 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


Well, I guess you have found yourself,” he re- 
sponded. 

‘‘ I have found you,” I answered, “ and that is 
more than finding myself.” 

But I have digressed, have left myself and friends 
in tears, to tell what occurred weeks afterward. I 
will return now, and find that the tears have been 
wiped away and calmness restored. 

Rockman was the first to speak. ‘‘ Do you not 
think, Minnie, that you will yet grow strong enough 
to overcome all this, — to meet and defy the world, 
so respecting yourself that you will command the 
respect of others ? ” 

I shall never stoop to win the world’s approval,” 
she said. 

That is what I would not ask, but I fe,ar you are 
doing so now.” 

“ How ? ” she asked. 

By keeping your present work covered : you 
stoop to hide.” 

‘‘ Not for myself. Uncle Rockman : were only 
myself concerned, I would defy them all ; but these 
others, I can not bear that they should be driven to 
desperation.” 

‘‘ And here,” I said, we find one of nature’s 
fingerboards.” 

Nature’s fingerboards ! what do you mean by 
that ? ” she asked. 

I looked at Arthur, and he laughingly said, “ She 
has been talking natural theology to me, and perhaps 
she will now explain some of it to you.” 

‘‘ Oh, dear ! every thing is theology with a minis- 
ter,” said Rose. 


KEYS AND FINGERBOARDS, 


285 


“ Give us the explanation, and never mind what 
they call it,” said Minnie ; while Rockman gave me 
a look that seemed to ask if I, too, had become a 
preacher. 

“Yes, Saul is among the prophets,” I replied to 
his look, and then tried to give them an idea of what 
I had meant by speaking as I did of Minnie’s covered 
work. 

“I believe, Mr. Berrian, that my theology, or a 
tenet of it, was that nature’s promptings are nature’s 
fingerboards pointing the way to the fulfillment of 
her prophecies.” He bowed, and I continued, — 

“Well, now to the application. You, Minnie, do 
not feel happy in being obliged to cover your track, 
to hide your past. In that unhappiness. Nature pro- 
tests against a wrong ; it is not necessarily a wrong 
in the one who conceals, but a wrong somewhere. 
If in the individual, it needs to come to the light to 
be righted ; if the community ignorantly or selfishly 
represses the individual, making him or her hide 
that which should come to light, but dare not for 
fear of unjust condemnation, then the ignorance 
that thus represses honest effort should have the 
lamp held firmly before its face, till it sees clearly 
the law of justice, and becomes willing to accept the 
new truth, or is forced to shut its eyes. 

“ The wrong of ignorance must be educated ; that 
of guilt, exposed. Nature, in protesting against 
secrecy, prophesies that the time will come when 
there will be no need of concealment ; and, in the 
spying propensities of the race, we have the finger- 
board that points the way to the fulfillment of her 
prophecy. 


286 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


‘‘ Crime must be made so unhappy in conceal- 
ment, that it gives the clew to its retreat by its very 
efforts to turn people’s attention in another direction; 
and Ignorance must be made so restless lest there 
should be something concealed, that she must inevi- 
tably stumble upon any light that is under a bushel, 
and uncover it.” 

“Who now is quoting Scripture as an illustra- 
tion ? ” asked Rockman. 

“ I am, sir : what else could you expect from one 
who is so completely under a minister’s influence ? ” 
I replied very demurely. 

This turned the laugh against him ; but he only 
laughed too, and added, “ I should think you had 
been taking lessons of the minister for the last ten 
years, by the way you talk.” 

“ I protest against taking the credit of that,” said 
Arthur, “ for she goes beyond me in natural analy- 
sis.” 

“ I do not see where she has got it all, then ; for 
when I have talked with her she has always hung 
back, instead of going ahead. Why, she has ex- 
pressed what I have been talking, and she has 
hitherto opposed, even better than I could have 
done,” Rockman continued, looking as if he could 
not quite understand why it was so. 

I looked at Mr. Berrian, and remarked, “ Some- 
times people swap keys.” 

“ I wish you two people would stop talking in 
riddles,” said Rose ; “ now I presume that we shall 
have to listen to another sermon to learn what swap- 
ping keys means.” 


KEYS AND FINGERBOARDS. 


287 


‘‘ Never mind the keys,” said Minnie : “ they, 
no doubt, refer to those with which each unlocked 
the other’s heart. I want to talk more about this 
covering-up business. I wish I could see the way 
clear to face the world, and defy its cruelty ; for this 
constant fear that something will occur to bring a 
storm of condemnation upon us, is torture.” 

“ Miss Morris, had you better not prepare a circu- 
lar giving some of your own experiences, and the 
motives which prompted you to take the course you 
have, and be ready, if a storm begins to gather, to 
scatter them broadcast?” 

Thank you ; I will do so, Mr. Berrian,” she 
said. 

‘‘ You need not thank me. Miss Morris : I should 
never have thought of it had not your desire to 
serve me prompted a similar suggestion,” he replied. 

The next morning Arthur returned to B , say- 

ing as he left, “ The next time, my darling, I shall 
not go alone.” 

“ And then comes the tug of war,” was my 
thought ; but I would not, by expressing it, cast a 
single shadow upon his happiness. When he had 
gone, I pondered over the remark about the effect 
that my sphere had upon him, and . I felt that there 
was more in it than a lover’s fancy ; for though his 
sphere, magnetism, or whatever it might be called, 
did not exactly unlock new chambers of thought for 
me, it seemed to sweep away the cobwebs from much 
that Mr. Rockman had expressed from time to time, 
giving me the power to see his idea so clearly, that I 
could put it in my own language, and tell it, as he 


288 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


said, even better than he did ; that is, more smooth- 
ly if not more pointedly. 

As to my shrinking from the responsible position 
of being a minister’s wife, I could not entirely avoid 
it ; but I comforted myself as best I could with the 
thought of what he had said to me, — 

“ Be your own self ; act not from what people will 
think, but as your nature prompts and circumstances 
indicate ; and you will do well enough.” 



THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS. 


289 


CHAPTER XVIL 

THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS. 

‘‘ Oh, then, instead of laurel crown 
The world in twined a thorny band, 

And on my forehead pressed it down 
With heavy hand ; 

And looks that used to warm me froze.’’ 

A. Cooper, BristoL 

INNIE prepared her circular, went to 

B , found an obscure job-printer 

who would do the work and say noth- 
ing about it, and had as many struck 
off as she thought she would need, then 
returned to find that she had been none too soon in 
doing so. 

One of the girls had been recognized upon the 
street the day before, and had been obliged to use 
the utmost caution to prevent being followed home ; 
and this by a man who knew Minnie and at least 
three of the girls well. I am glad you came in the 
night,” she said to Minnie ; ‘‘ for he was really in 
love with Julia Shaw ; and, as we used to be 
together, he will think we are now, and he will be 
. on the watch.” 

‘‘ Did she care for him ? ” asked Minnie. 

‘‘ I thought you knew that she did not,” Irene 






290 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


replied. Don’t you remember that rich old fool 
who used to annoy us all so much when we Avere at 
the capital? ” 

You don’t mean that he is the man you are talk- 
ing of! ” exclaimed Minnie, turning pale. 

He is the very man, and I would rather have 
met old Splitfoot himself ; the contemptible, disgust- 
ing puppy ! ” 

Minnie sank into the nearest seat, and groaned 
aloud, “ Great heaven ! how long must we bb 
crushed by men, the vilest and lowest of Avhom can 
go where they please if they happen to have money, 
while we must hide away, must steal the chance to 
get an honest living, or be held to what we hate ? ” 

The girls gathered around her with white, anx- 
ious faces. Go,” she said at length, and gather 
them all here : those that this wretch happens to 
know are here now, and the others can manage it so 
as to come without attracting attention ; but the 
most of them had better come in the back way. 
When we are all together, then we will decide what 
is to be done.”- ' - , 

I was summoned with the others ; and now let the 
reader imagine a midnight hour, and a room with 
closed blinds, and so guarded that not a particle of 
light could reach the eyes of those without, and in 
that room about twenty women taking counsel ' 
together as to how they can secure bread to eat, and ^ 
clothes to wear, without being subject to the lusts of \ 
the men of a Christian community. ! 

Think of these women as holding the secrets of j 
hundreds, yea, of thousands, who went whither they 


THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS. 


291 


would, and were respected, honored, because their 
acts were covered ; think of the alternative placed 
before these women, of going before the public as 
humble suppliants, taking the place of sinners at the 
feet of these very men and women ; think of their 
being obliged to do this, or be driven back to dens 
of shame, to the gilded hells that they loathed. 
Why are these things so ? 

Men control the staff of life, bread, or that which 
brings it; and woman is everywhere dependent. Men 
do not realize, many of them, what they are doing, I 
know; they do not intend to be the tyrants they 
are ; neither do they have a true appreciation of 
woman and her work, of what she could do for the 
race if permitted to make conditions for herself. 
They do not, they can not as yet, see this ; but the 
results of the present order of things are none the 
less to be deplored, because people are blind to 
causes, and deal unforgivingly with effects. 

But the night waned, and each one of this com- 
pany must be in their respective places in the morn- 
ing ; and what should be done ? 

Minnie had caught the spirit of the idea advanced 
by Rockman, — that of overcoming the world by a 
firm self-respect, and a refusal to obey its dictates, or 
abide by its decisions. She tried to impress the girls 
with this idea, and to inspire them with the hope 
that there was a possibility of demanding, and finally 
obtaining, what they might plead for in vain ; to wit, 
the respect of the public. 

‘‘We can at least retain our own,” said she, “by 
this course ; while if we yield to their demands, or 


292 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


allow ourselves to be driven back to where we were 
before, we can not do even that.” 

Some of the girls were silently defiant, and others 
wept and cursed by turns ; wept as they thought of 
their condition, and then cursed the injustice that 
would push them from the footing they had obtained. 

“I will never again walk with bowed head and 
shame-facedness before a hypocritical society ! ” 
exclaimed Dora Fenn. Nor I, nor I, nor I,” was 
repeated from lip to lip. 

“I would not mind the old life so much,” said 
Helen Myres, “if I never had to receive company 
that was repulsive to me, or when I did not wish it.” 

“ That is not a curse to which the Magdalen alone 
has to submit,” I remarked. 

“ You have been married, and your life as a wife 
was not a happy one ? ” said Minnie. 

“ It was not,” I replied. “ It is what I never like to 
speak of, and would forget if I could ; but, had the 
man who called me wife lived, I should not have 
been here now. He was, to all appearance, all that 
a woman could desire, — fine-looking, affable, gentle- 
manly; and, though I sometimes felt a sense of 
shrinking while in his presence, I attributed it to 
maidenly modesty. I was young, too young to 
marry; but my parents desired it, and I, without 
knowing what love meant, consented to become a 
wife. 

“ It did not take long to open my eyes to what I 
had done ; but I thought it was woman’s fate, and 
that it was my duty to submit in silence. I did so, 
trying to do the best I could ; but Heaven was kinder 


THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS, 


293 


to me than mortals, and death broke the bonds for 
me.” 

I had never said as much before; but now my 
sympathy for these girls drew from me what I should 
otherwise have continued to keep concealed within 
my own breast. 

Minnie had not yet told them of the circulars, for 
she did not wish to annoy them with the thought 
that there might be a need for them ; but now she 
spoke of this, and explained her idea in reference to 
their use, and then said, — 

‘‘ We call ourselves a band of sisters, and, let what 
will come, I will never forsake you ; so long as I have 
a dollar you shall share it. How many of you feel 
like abiding by this compact ? ” 

There was not a dissenting voice. Clasp hands, 
then,” she continued. All did this, even to Rose, 
though she did not necessarily belong to them. I 
looked on with tearful eyes, and said, “ I will do all 
I can consistent with my duties elsewhere.” 

Minnie smiled sadly, and said, ^‘Marriage is our 
natural enemy, .and you can not serve two masters. 
We are bound together in the bonds of affliction; 
will those who have clasped hands rise ? ” They did 
so ; and she stepped into the middle of the room, tell- 
ing them to complete the circle around her. 

“ My sisters, my children, we are henceforth and 
inseparably one ; and may God in heaven help us, for 
mankind will not ! ” They all bowed their heads as 
if receiving a benediction ; and then, when they were 
reseated, she unfolded her plans. 

‘‘We will never humble ourselves to what society 


294 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


demands,” she said ; hut we will make it impossible 
for them to say with truth that we are deceiving 
them. I have set forth in this circular our past; 
declaring that we were not alone to blame, and that 
we are making an honest effort to lead a life of recti- 
tude. I have alluded to the feeling we have about 
being humbled or set aside because of that for wliich 
those who aided in placing us in the condition we 
were are not condemned; and declared that such 
treatment tended to drive those who had been 
wronged to desperation ; and asserted that we only 
desired the opportunity to earn an honest living, and 
if they would not allow this, if through the public 
frown our customers were driven from us, thus 
depriving us of the means of gaining our bread, then 
the sin would be upon their own heads ; and God 
would require it at their hands. 

“ Now, girls, we are in danger of having the peo- 
ple’s prejudices aroused through the influence of this 
degraded creature in the form of a man ; this creature 
that any of us would die sooner than marry, and yet 
society accepts him, for he is a man, and has money; 
and I propose to forestall him with these circulars. 
Every minister and every minister’s wife must have 
one ; every boarder we have, and every one who fur- 
nishes us with sewing, must have one ; and we will 
watch the effect. 

If we are utterly forsaken, or so nearly so that 
we see no hopes of continuing in our present work, 
then we will not bow to the public demand of humil- 
iation ; but we will seek a large city, establish our- 
selves in different parts of it, and receive such com- 


THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS. 


295 


pany as is agreeable to us, pledging ourselves to each 
other, that under no condition whatever shall a 
money consideration induce us to accept that wdiich 
is repulsive. That kind of degradation we will never 
consent to. And thus we shall not be utterly 
crushed ; for with cleanly habits, and the exclusion 
of liquors from our table and the house, we can 
remain healthy, and maintain our self-respect. 

‘^Remember, now, this is not to be of choice, but 
as a last resort, when we find that a Christian society 
will not allow us any other resource, only as we kiss 
Mother Grundy’s big toe, and remain content to lie 
at her feet. Who approves of this ? ” 

“We will do or die; we will defeat the world by 
refusing their terms on either hand; we will not 
kneel to our equals, or to those who are beneath us, 
so far as the reality goes ; neither will we be prosti- 
tuted to the lusts of those we hate, so help us God ! ” 
was the hearty response given to Minnie’s plans. 

“ Then let there be no more hiding after this 
night ; let each go home as quietly as possible ; and 
from this time forth let each go where it is necessary, 
without shrinking from the face of man or woman. 
Good-night, and let the morrow take care of itself.” 

The excitement that filled the place the next day 
was something wonderful* You would have thought, 
had you heard some of the people talk, that the 
plague had broke out in their midst, or that an earth- 
quake was imminent. The boarders were questioned 
upon every corner of the street, — 

“ Did you know who you were boarding with ? ” 

“ Never had the least idea till this morning,” was 
the prompt response. 


296 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


‘‘ How have they behaved ? ” 

“ Like ladies : we have never seen the least thing 
immodest or unladylike.” 

“What did they tell on themselves for, the 
fools?” 

“ Some one came into town, I understand, who 
used to know some of them, I believe.” 

“ Are you going to continue boarding with them ? ” 

Different answers were given to this. Some said, 

“ As long as they continue to behave like ladies.” 
Others asked, “Would you drive them to despera- 
tion by withdrawing all means of support ? ” and 
still others would reply, “Not longer than till my 
week is up ; ” and one or two said, “Yes, if they will 
let me sleep with them.” 

The most of the boarders were young men, and 
were inclined to stand by the girls ; and’ one of the 
very best among them urged Irene Bradley to marry j 
him : but she said, “ No, I will not forsake those I i 

. i 

have pledged myself to : we are a band of sisters, and ] 
we stand or fall together.” 

Some ten of the young men were at work in the 
foundry of which the dissipated old Croesus who had 
recognized Irene was proprietor ; and, when he found 
that he was defied, his rage vented itself by demand- 
ing that those ten should board elsewhere, or be dis- 
charged. True, he had no direct right to hire or 
discharge any of the workmen, as he had leased the 
property to another for a given length of time ; but- 
the man who held the lease was financially in his 
power, and so was obliged to do his bidding. 

He resided elsewhere, and had not been in the 


THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS. 


297 


place before for nearly two years ; and this was why 
the girls had lived so long in peace. The most of 
the ten submitted, and changed their place of board- 
ing; though they assured the girls that they did 
it of necessity, not of choice. Three of them, how- 
ever, refused to yield to such arbitrary dictation, and 
found employment elsewhere. In three days’ time, 
there were but seven of their twenty boarders left ; 
and six out of the other thirteen had offered to pay 
the same that they had paid for board, and even 
more, for the privilege of coming secretly, and stay- 
ing with some one of the girls once a week. 

Ministers and their wives came together, and con- 
sulted as to what was to be done, and decided, that 
if they were only humble, repentant, it would be 
proper and right to stand by them ; but that with 
the proud, independent spirit they manifested, it 
would only be encouraging sin to countenance them. 

Some two dozen of the most pious ladies in the 
place called on them in a body, and told them that 
it was not proper for them, under the circumstances, 
to receive men into their homes unless accompanied 
by their wives or mothers, and that if they would 
dismiss the rest of their boarders, and would work at 
reasonable prices, they would furnish what work they 
could, and use their influence to aid them getting 
more elsewhere. 

Men, merchants, lawyers, physicians, and others 
whose business gave them money to spend on pleas- 
ure, these to the number of at least a dozen, during 
the first ten days sent them notes through the office, 
or dropped them in the yard, offering them money if 


298 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


they could be allowed to visit them under cover of 
darkness ; but these notes were always so worded, 
that there was no certainty as to who sent them, and 
specified some sign by means of which they might 
know if their offers were accepted ; and so the con- 
flict went on. 

Eben Eockman went upon the street in his old 
disguise, and listened to the comments made ; 
learned the decision of the conclave of ministers and 
wives, heard Minnie’s report of the proposition of the 
pious women, read the notes making offers to the 
girls, noted the pressure brought to bear upon the 
young men ; and he said it not only once but dozens 
of times, — 

“ God damn this thievish Christian nation ! ” and, 
with all I saw and heard as an illustration of the 
general Christian character, I could not find it in my 
heart to reprove him ; for I felt, that if some strong, 
determined soul did not speak, the stones beneath 
our feet would cry out in agony. 

Minnie wrote to Mr. Berrian, telling him how 
things were going, and sent him some of the circulars 
she had distributed, and also some that she had pre- 
pared for him to use, if he should need them. This 
she had done from her own promptings, we not 
knowing of it till afterward. 

The three months, that I had stipulated for had 
expired with the exception of one week. Arthur 
had secured a substitute to fill the desk for one sab- 
bath, and had written to the minister here, that he 
should require his services to perform a marriage- 
ceremony. The sabbath before leaving B , he 


had preached from these words in the morning : — 


THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS. 


299 


“ Man looketh at the outward appearance ; but God 
looketli at the heart ; ” and in the afternoon he had 
taken, “ Judge not, that ye be not judged.” 

That he spoke of the deceitfulness of appearances, 
of the plans of the hypocrite to cast his sins upon 
others, of the necessity of care lest we should con- 
demn the innocent, the reader will doubtless not 
need to be told. At the close of the discourse, he 
announced that he should be absent the following 
Sunday, and, that, upon his return, he should bring a 
wife to be the sharer of his labors among them. 

‘‘And still another subject,” he said, “ I wish to pre- 
sent ; or, rather, to state, that some circular pamphlets 
have been sent to me recently, in reference to some 
facts that illustrate the text of this afternoon. These 
circulars do not name the parties concerned ; but I 
have reasons to believe that they are a statement of 
facts. Those reasons I will give you at another 
time ; but the circulars will be given to the brother 
who officiates here next sabbath, and he will hand 
the package to Deacon Barnes to distribute. 

“ I desire that you read them carefully, and, when 
I return, I shall have something to say in reference 
to them.” 

This excited the curiosity of the people, as he 
expected it would ; and the next sabbath every one 
was desirous of getting hold of a circular, and Cran- 
dall with the others. Minnie had stated the facts, 
but she had so worded the entire relation, that no 
one, unless acquainted with some of the main fea- 
tures, would have suspected the parties or the place ; 
and every one inquired of his neighbor, “ Who is this 


300 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


smooth-faced hypocrite ? Who are those women who 
were so wronged ? ” 

Crandall knew who was intended; but he was 
shrewd enough to see that there was nothing in the 
circular to point to him : so he joined in the general 
expressions of indignation and pity with as much 
earnestness as though he was really the righteous 
man that he appeared. 

Upon reaching' C , Mr. Berrian talked with 

Rockman and myself, as to what course to pursue 
toward Minnie and her friends. 

“ The public are connecting Rose and myself with 
them,” I said, although Minnie has expressly stated, 
time and again, that we were only incidental acquaint- 
ances, who had become friends through sympathy 
with their resolution to leave the old life and begin a 
better one.” 

Never mind,” said he: ‘‘ we will turn that tide. 
I shall ask the privilege of speaking in the morning ; 
and, though not very much used to speaking without 
previous preparation, I feel that through the help of 
my God I can do so, and do it well too. The spirit 
of my Master is upon me, and I shall love to tell 
those who fear contamination that the publicans and 
harlots go into the kingdom before them. 

“ Mr. Rockman and Rose will be with you, of 
course ; and I want Miss Morris and all her friends to 
be there, and to be among the first to give us greeting 
after the ceremony is over. You can go to church 
as usual in the morning; I will stay at Brother 
Weston’s to-night, and no one need know who the 
bride is to be till she is called for.” 


THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS. 


301 


His courage inspired me, and all was arranged as 
he had planned, in the morning he occupied the 
pulpit in company with Mr. Weston, the regular 
minister ; and after singing and prayer he announced 
to the congregation, that, as the Rev. Mr. Berrian 

from B , was with them, they would have the 

; pleasure of listening to a discourse from him. 

Minnie and the girls were all there, quiet and well 
! behaved, and paying no attention to the scornful 
j looks directed toward them. Mr. Rockman, Rose, 
and myself occupied our usual places, and were 
treated to our proportion of condemning glances. 

Mr. Berrian arose, and, looking slowly over the 
audience, announced these words as the text from 
I which to make a few remarks : “ or as the Spirit 
I giveth utterance.” 

I ‘‘ If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is 
none of his.” 

Pausing till he had the attention of every one in 
■ the house, he again repeated the words, “If any 
' man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” 

1 He then proceeded to show, as illustrated by his 
I life, what that spirit was ; and it seemed to me, as I 
I listened, that, like the prophet of old, his lips had 
been touched with a live coal from off the altar. 

“Jesus shrank not from speaking the truth because 
it touched the rich, the great ones of earth, but 
showed that, like his Father in heaven, he was no 
respecter of persons. Do we do this ? Oh, no ! the 
rich man’s broadcloth, and the wealthy woman’s 
silks and laces, so dazzle our eyes that we can not see 
their sins ; so we accord to them the best places 


302 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


everywhere. Their money pays for what they have ; 
but money will not tempt the spirit of Christ to 
give them a place in heaven. 

“ ‘ If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is 
none of his.’ 

He was never heard to thunder his condemnation 
against the weak and erring among the poor and 
lowly ; he always spoke gently to, and looked kindly 
on them, winning them with the dew of his love, as 
the sunlight woos the desolate places of the earth, 
till, if there is the germ of a flower there, it will open 
its petals and show its richest hues. The rich, the 
high and lifted-up, needed severe language to bring 
them to a sense of what they were ; but these, their 
hearts were bruised and sore already, and they needed 
the gentle dews of love to revive their drooping 
spirits. The bruised reed he will not break. 

“ Do we manifest a gentle spirit toward the same 
classes ? do we win the drunkard from his cups by 
surrounding him with better influences ? do we draw 
the Magdalen from her wretched life with gentle 
words and loving deeds ? do we ? 

‘ If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is 
none of his.’ 

Do we find Jesus at any time guarding himself 
from disreputable society lest his character should 
suffer reproach? do we find him demanding that 
they shoifld humble themselves and stand afar off, 
because of the past ? did he put them under the sur- 
veillance of watchful eyes and suspicious looks ? Not 
at all ; but, dismissing them with a smile of blessing 
and a word of admonition, he sent them about their 
business, threw them upon their own responsibility. 


THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS, 


303 


Do we do this ? Do we not, on the contrary, keep 
the hounds of suspicion on their track till they are 
driven to despair by our constant espionage of their 
acts, and misinterpretation of their motives ? do we 
not demand from them so much humiliation, that 
their self-respect rebels, and refuses to submit ? And 
because of this, because our burdens are so hard that 
they can not bear them, because, instead of being 
meek and lowly in spirit, we are so self-righteous 
that they can not come near unto us, — because of all 
this, we turn our backs upon them, and claim that 
they do not desire a better life. 

‘‘ ‘ If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is 
none of his.’ ” 

But no description of mine can do justice to that 
sermon. It was not so much the words as the man- 
ner in which they were said, the looks and gestures 
which accompanied, that gave them force and power. 

The audience could but make the application for 
themselves ; and, long before he sat down, the ques- 
tioning glance, the cold looks, that had been directed 
toward Minnie and her company at commencement, 
ceased entirely. For once they forgot the short- 
comings of others in the realizing sense that they 
themselves had not the spirit of Christ. For my 
own part, I felt that, with such a man to stand by my 
side, I need not fear to face the world. 

At the close of the services, the resident minister 
said that he hoped the audience would all be there in 
the afternoon ; for, though he could not hope to inter- 
est them as the brother had done, the lack would be 
made up in part, at least, by that which always 
interested, — a marriage-ceremony. 


304 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


This changed the whole current of thought. 
‘‘ Who is to be married ? ” was the question that flew 
from lip to lip : no one knew but the minister, and 
he was bound to secrecy. In the afternoon the 
church was filled to the overflowing. Arthur sat in 
the desk as in the morning, while the minister went 
forward with the usual services. The sermon was 
ended at last, and expeotation was on tiptoe. 

Very quietly Arthur arose, descended from the 
desk, came to where I was sitting, and taking me by 
the hand led me forward to the altar, while Rock- 
man and Rose took their places on either side of us. 
I will not attempt to picture the surprise, almost 
consternation, that was pictured upon the faces of the 
congregation. Suffice it to say that the effect of 
that day’s occurrences, together with the influence 
exerted the few days that we remained in town, so 
smoothed the path for Minnie that she managed to 
maintain her ground till the reaction came that gave 
her the real respect she deserved. 

True, there were some who never could be made 
to comprehend that once in disgrace was not always 
in disgrace ; but they were the weak, the cowardly, 
or the self-conceited ones, whose law was to follow, 
not to lead. You will say that self-conceit desires to 
lead. I mean the self-conceit that claims the right 
to stand beside the leaders, to be first in their notice ; 
those who receive smiles from those who stand above 
them, to dispense frowns to those they imagine below 
them. Such are generally too feeble to lead, or too 
indolent to take the necessary trouble. 

When we returned to B , Rose and Rockman 


TEE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS. 


305 


went with us. We stopped upon the way to visit an 
old friend of Arthur’s, and when we reached home 
it was late on Saturday night ; so that no one saw us, 
and consequently had no idea who the bride was till 
we entered church on sabbath morning. 

Very calmly Arthur arose in his place, gave out 
the hymn, and offered up the accustomed prayer, 
then took for his text, Deal justly, love mercy, and 
walk humbly.” 

“ Do we do this ? ” he asked. “ We do not ask if 
the world at large does this, but do we who profess 
to be the followers of Christ Jesus do this? First, 
as to dealing justly, let us test the matter by facts 
from real life. I once knew two girls of the same 
neighborhood, who were counted as the most beauti- 
ful of all in the country around ; but they were poor. 
These girls were both sought by rich young men ; 
and one of them loved him who sought her society, 
and the other did not. 

‘‘ The one who did not was ambitious of place and 
position ; and resolved to marry the man she did not 
love, for the sake of his money. Remember she had 
no love for him, consequently it was no trouble for 
her to keep him at his proper distance till she had so 
bound him that he could not leave her. She coolly, 
calculatingly, sold herself to this man under the sacred 
name of marriage. It was not marriage ; there was 
no union between them ; only the symbol of a union 
which was not, and never could be. She told her 
friends that she did not love him, but that she could 
and would marry him. 

They were professed Christians, those friends, 


806 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


tlie most of tliem; but did they turn from her in 
scorn ? did they tell her that a legal sale of herself 
with perjury upon her lips could not sanction such 
an accursed bond? Did they? If so, it was with 
a frown so mingled with a smile that it lost its power 
to influence ; and as to scorning, and turning their 
backs upon her, they did far otherwise. 

The banquet was spread for her and the man to 
whom she had sold herself, in many a so-called 
Christian home ; and she in turn entertained them 
as guests. But how was it with the other one? She 
loved : she was pure and sweet as the morning in her 
intentions ; the thought of selling herself for gold, 
for wealth or position, would have been sacrilege to 
her ; but she loved, and he to whom her heart’s wor- 
ship was given succeeded, by arts at which a fiend 
ought to blush, in accomplishing her ruin. And 
what was the result? ay, what was the result? 

‘‘ Did Christians take that poor wounded lamb to 
their bosoms, and comfort her ? did they turn their 
indignation against her betrayer? Would to God 
that I could say that they did ! but alas, no : the 
betrayer Avalked forth unharmed ; the woman who 
had sold herself for gold was accepted, because she 
had conformed to human law; while she who had 
loved, had fulfilled God’s law, but had been betrayed 
into neglecting the human, she was scorned, till, 
driven to desperation, she hid herself from Christian 
cruelty in a den of infamy. 

“ Did those who called themselves Christians deal 
justly with that poor girl? did they love mercy? 
did they walk humbly when they presumed to judge 
her?” 


THE STORM-CLOUD BURSTS. 


307 


Here he paused, and looking directly at Crandall 
for a moment, added, “ And there was another who 
was betrayed, and then confined in a den of infamy, 
by him who professed to love her ; she manages to 
escape, and finds refuge with a friend, while he 
marries another. He professes a great deal of 
morality, and warns the public against this very girl 
and her friend ; and a Christian public without inves- 
tigation, without bringing the accuser and the 
accused face to face, accepts the man’s story as 
truth, and crushes the woman with scorn. 

‘‘ Is this doing justly ? is this loving mercy ? is this 
walking humbly, as in the presence of God who 
looketh at the heart ? Is this an unusual subject for 
a sabbath morning’s discourse? Then the more 
shame to those who stand upon the walls of Zion. 
The Lord hath called me to preach the gospel to the 
poor, to plead the cause of the oppressed ; and I shall 
obey God, rather than man.” 

The effect of this discourse, in connection with the 
circulars that had been scattered, and the marriage 
with the woman upon whom they had set the seal of 
their condemnation because the ‘‘Hon. Mr. Cran- 
dall ” had warned them against her, — the effect of 
all this was simply tremendous. Men and women 
turned pale before the firm daring of the minister. 
No direct charge was made, but all knew that Cran- 
dall was the one intended by the last example given. 
How dare Arthur Berrian brave such a man, and the 
whole community with him ? 

In the evening thp text was, “ Shall I obey God or 
man? judge ye.” The church was even more 


308 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


crowded than in the morning ; but the temper of the 
audience was like powder, and needed only a spark 
to create an explosion. But the spark was not 
furnished ; for, as he proceeded to portray the terrible 
responsibility resting upon the minister, his tones 
seemed almost a prayer, an entreaty that they would 
consider the position he held, and pardon him for the 
wounds that he felt he must inflict. Gradually, as 
he proceeded, the clouds dispersed, the atmosphere 
changed ; and when he sat down the man had con- 
quered what the minister had aroused. 

Crandall was there with the rest ; but from that 
day he came no more. The tide turned against him, 
and his power was gone. He was nominated for 
office again, but was defeated ; and, as people began 
to sense more and more his real character, he was 
driven by an influence that he could not grapple 
with, into the obscurity he deserved. And there, with 
the disappointed woman that he made his wife from 
no purer motives than those which prompted her 
to accept him as husband, — there we will leave them 
to just such happiness as they have prepared for 
themselves ; feeling that, — 

“ The mills of the gods grind slowly, 

But they grind exceeding small.” 



AS THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN, 


309 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

AS THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. 

OSE remained with me in my new home 
as the trusted friend and sister that she 
had been for years. True, she was 
pledged to Minnie’s band, and, had they 
needed her, she would have gone to 
them at once ; but for the present she could be of 
no particular use to them. 

Mr. Rockman, as usual, came and went at his 
pleasure. Some ten days after our marriage, we 
were all four sittting quietly together one evening, 
when Mr. Rockman said to Arthur, — 

Mr. Berrian, are we not taught to pray for the 
will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven? ” 

“We certainly are,” he replied. 

“ Can human law ever bring about such a result, 
sir?” 

“ Human law is imperfect, and ever must be ; but 
God’s law is perfect, and must be obeyed in order to 
so glorious a result,” he answered. 

“ Is there any need of adding the sanction of the 
human, the imperfect, when God’s, the perfect, is 
satisfied ? ” 

“ I do not see the purport of your questions, Mr. 
Rockman ; but, I can not perceive such a need any 





310 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


more than John could when Jesus came to be 
baptized. John objected; but the reply was, ‘ Suffer 
it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all 
righteousness.’ ” 

Eben laughed. ‘‘ You have given the only answer 
that you could have made without condemning your- 
self,” he said. 

How is that ? ” Arthur asked. 

“Love is the fulfilling of the law, of God’s law; 
it is all that he requires in marriage. This existed 
between you and Mrs. Berrian ; yet you added to it 
the sanction of human law.” 

“ God commands marriage,” said Arthur, looking 
as if he did not quite understand what particular 
point Rockman wished to illustrate. 

“ What kind of marriage, — that of love, or that 
which the State sanctions ? It was the authority of 
the State, and not that of God, by which you were 
pronounced man and wife.” 

“ Does not Paul say that marriage is honorable?” 

“ Yes ; but is it law marriage, or love marriage ? 
If the first, then love has nothing to do in the 
matter ; if the latter, then we do not need the first ; 
and, if it takes both to complete the bond, then God’s 
law, the law of love, is not perfect till it has man’s 
sanction.” 

“ Mr. Rockman, would you have us disregard the 
laws that enforce justice and order?” 

“ I would have those who call themselves Cliris- 
tians consistent. You pray for the will of the 
Father to be done on earth as it is in heaven; you 
say that human law can never bring about such a 


AS THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN, 


311 


result ; and He whom you call Master said, ‘ In that 
world they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, 
hut are as the angels in heaven ; ’ and yet you con- 
tinue to recognize legal marriage. Now, I want to 
know how the will of the Father is to be done on 
earth as it is in heaven, how it is that we are to 
become as the angels, so long as we continue to act 
as though God’s law of love needs the addition of 
man’s sanction?” 

“ You are asking hard questions, Mr. Rockman,” 
Arthur said, after sitting some moments as if in deep 
thought. 

W ell, I will put the question in another form : 
what is it that makes legal marriage necessary ? ” 

“ What is it that makes legal marriage necessary ? 
Who would take care of the women and children, if 
a man was not held for the support of his own chil- 
dren and their mother ? ” 

“ You have answered the question, Mr. Berrian ; it 
is property, the law of descent, that which sustains 
the present order of things, sustains all its injustice, 
its usury, its extravagance, pride, — -all these and 
much more demand legal marriage, can not exist with- 
out it. The law of love, God’s law, does not demand 
it ; in that world it does not exist, and they are as 
the angels in heaven.” 

“ When we become as the angels, Mr. Rockman, 
we shall not need marriage law ; till then, I do not 
see how we can get along without it.” 

‘‘ When we know how to swim, Mr. Berrian, we can 
be trusted upon the water ; till then it is not safe to 
go near it,” he replied. 


312 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


Rose laughed ; and Arthur looked confused, but 
said in reply, “ I should like to have you explain how 
it is that legal marriage upholds, sustains, all the 
wrongs you have named.” 

“Is one child any more worthy at birth than 
another ? ” asked Rockman. 

“ Certainly not : they have done neither good nor 
evil, and can not be counted worthy or unworthy, 
having not, as yet, reached the years of accounta- 
bility.” 

“ What would you think, Mr. Berrian, of a man 
who would give all his property to one child, and 
leave the others penniless ? ” 

“ I should that he was an unjust, an unnatural 
father, sir.” 

“ And yet the time was when the eldest son inher- 
ited the estate ; it is so now in some countries. The 
law of the land enforced this ; and, no matter how 
much the parent desired, he could not make his chil- 
dren equally his heirs. This was done to perpetuate 
a titled, an aristocratic class, by keeping large estates 
undivided. Millions of acres are to-day, in England, 
laid out in extensive parks, where the nobility can 
sport at their leisure, while millions of the poor, the 
landless, are subject to these rich lords, dependent 
upon them, either directly or indirectly, for the 
chance to earn their bread ; and woe to the luckless 
poacher who dares to snare a hare or shoot a bird 
upon these broad domains, if he is caught ! ” 

“ But what has all this to do with legal marriage ? ” 
interrupted Arthur. 

“ There is often a contest as to the real heirship of 


AS THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. 


313 


these large estates ; and the fact of an actual, a legal 
marriage must be established as existing between the 
parents a sufficient length of time before the birth of 
the child, to prove its legitimacy, or the inherit- 
ance passes to another. Thus legal marriage takes 
its value from the property basis, and love between 
the parties is not taken into account. Who ever 
heard of such a thing as the question being asked as 
to whether the parents loved one another when the 
legitimacy, and consequent heirship accruing to a 
child, were being tried in a court of law ? 

The opposing counsel would object in a moment ; 
would say, ‘ This is not a question of love, but of law. 
Were the parties legally married? and is this child, 
this man or woman, the fruit of that marriage ? ’ In 
this country we have no titled aristocracy ; conse- 
quently the selfish ambition to stand above one’s 
fellows must find its support in money, and that 
which money brings ; hence the struggle for wealth 
for ourselves and our children. The law of descent 
gives to children who are legitimate, those whose 
parents were legally married, — it gives such children 
the property that belonged to their parents. Here 
again law takes precedence, even when love exists ; 
while love without legality has no rights that the law 
is bound to respect, and law without love has all the 
rights that law with love has ; so you must see that 
legal marriage utterly ignores, sets aside, the law of 
love. And yet the Scriptures declare that ‘ love is the 
fulfilling of the law.’ 

‘‘ It may be counted heresy, Mr. Berrian ; but, to 
me, the man or woman who takes upon them legal 


314 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


bonds casts contempt upon the law of God. I am 
aware that they do it ignorantly ; but they neverthe- 
less belittle the divine law of love, which is all the 
law that God requires the parties to obey.” 

‘‘No rights that the law is bound to respect,” re- 
peated Rose. “ I do not see, then, but love is in the 
same condition that the negro was under the Dred 
Scott decision.” 

“ Exactly, puss : you have hit the nail right on the 
head; and, as the value of the negro was always 
counted from the money standpoint, so also is the 
value of legal marriage.” 

“ You' mistake,” said Arthur : “ the negro was often 
loved and tenderly cared for ; and masters, in that 
case, would part with almost any thing else sooner 
than with a favorite slave ; and legal marriage has a 
moral value in the eyes of the people, that is above 
money.” 

“ I was speaking,” said Rockman, “ in reference to 
law. The master might love his slave very dearly, 
but the law paid no regard whatever to that love ; 
for if he was in debt, and could not raise the money 
otherwise, the slave must be sold. As to legal 
marriage, the people may get the idea that it has a 
moral value, and cling to it on that account ; but the 
law itself recognizes no such value, any more than it 
does a love-value in the person of the slave.” 

“ Can a simply legal act, in and of itself, have a 
moral value ? ” asked Rose. 

Rockman turned to Arthur, instead of answering 
her himself, with, “ How is that, Mr. Berrian ? ” 

“ I don’t know as I exactly understand the ques- 
tion,” he said. 


AS THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN, 


315 


“ Will you repeat it, Rose ? ” 

“ Can a legal act, in and of itself, have a moral 
value ? Or, in other words, can legal sanction make 
an immoral act a moral one, or the lack of such sanc- 
tion make a moral act an immoral one ? ” 

Wife, I wish you would come to my aid,” said 
Arthur, turning to me ; “ or, with two such sophists 
to deal with, I shall get into deep water.” 

“ Say, rather, that you are already in deep water, 
and have never learned to swim,” laughed Rockman. 
‘‘ You know that we are not sophists ; the difficulty 
is, we go straight from premises to conclusions, and 
it kindles more of the hay and stubble into a flame 
than you like.” 

“ Will you please answer my question ? ” said Rose. 

He can not,” interrupted Rockman ; “ he is in as 
bad a condition as the Jews were when Jesus ques- 
tioned them of the baptism of John, whether it was 
from heaven or of men ; if he says that legal sanction 
can not make an immoral act a moral one, you can 
ask him why a mother who has not been legally mar- 
ried is necessarily less pure than one who has been 
thus married ; and, if he says that legal sanction can 
make an immoral act a moral one, then you can ask 
him why it is that human law does not step in and 
change the character of all wrong-doing by sanction- 
ing and thus making it right.” 

But I did not intend to ask either,” said Rose. 
‘‘1 only wished to ask if a legal morality did not 
really do more harm than good by standing in the 
way of real morality ? ” 

If we make the legal take the place of the moral, 


316 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


it certainly does ; but, if we only use the legal as a 
sign of the real, I can not see where the harm comes 
in,” said Arthur. 

True,” said Rockman, ‘‘ if the sign is never used 
only where the real exists ; but if, as in the present 
state of society, the sign is used full as often to mis- 
lead as otherwise, and when it is once up it must stay 
there to bind the parties to a false relation, and they 
are taught that it is their duty to live out the false- 
hood, what then? I tell you, friend Berrian, the 
declaration that ‘by the works of the law shall no 
flesh be justified,’ contains a grand truth, and one 
that pertains to more than the ceremonial law of the 
Jews, or the ten commandments given upon Mount 
Sinai. The enactments of to-day, the very best of 
those laws that attempt to regulate the morals of a 
community, are an utter failure. They tend to pro- 
duce more crime than they prevent ; and of none can 
this be more truly said than of legal marriage.” 

“ You may be right, friend Rockman ; but I can not 
see, as yet, that you have made good your accusations 
against legal marriage ; and I shall be slow to decide 
against what, to me, is among the most sacred of all 
institutions,” said Arthur in reply. 

“ Perhaps I should have said that it was both the 
cause and result of these evils ; but it is certain to 
my mind that such evils can never be done away with 
while legal marriage exists. Time was when proper- 
ty was held by the law of direct force. What a man 
took and was able to hold was his, whether wives, 
slaves, gold, silver, or whatever else was considered 
of value ; then there were no written codes to regu- 


AS TEE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. 


317 


late the relations of property, nor courts, judges, and 
lawyers, with the whole power of the government as 
an indirect force to secure the fulfillment of their re- 
quirements. But men and women can never become 
like the angels in heaven under either of these sys- 
tems: they belong to the realm of the external, in- 
stead of the internal or spiritual life. 

“ The law of descent of property from parents to 
children, and the legal marriage system which strives 
to secure this result, are both the offspring of selfish- 
ness. You have acknowledged, Mr. Berrian, that it 
would be unjust for a father to give all his property 
to one child, and leave the others penniless : what is 
a State but a larger family ? ” 

“ But the State does not own the property ; it has 
no right to confiscate or control that which belongs 
to the individual, Mr. Rockman.” 

The State has just those rights, in a republican 
form of government, which individuals give it. It 
has the right to protect its citizens ; it has the right 
to say that one man shall not rob another. Time 
was when only the eldest son inherited the estate, 
and the ruling power was vested in the king: the 
time is when a man’s children inherit equally what 
he can earn, or get from others directly or indirectly, 
so that he does it legally ; and the power has passed 
from the king to the people : time will be when the 
State will be every man’s heir, and all children of the 
State Avill, at the age of twenty-one, receive a definite 
sum to begin life with, and, previous to that time, 
they will be secured equal advantages in every 
respect.” 


318 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


Do you mean to say that children will be taken 
from the parents, and educated by the State ? ” 

By no means, Mr. Berrian ; but I mean to say 
that children shall no longer be left to suffer from 
the inability of parents to provide what they need ; 
that, if sickness or death intervene, children shall not 
be orphaned ; and, if parents fail to earn wealth, chil- 
dren shall not be obliged to commence active life 
under circumstances that will make them, as laborers, 
the slaves of capital.” 

‘‘Would to heaven that such a state of things ex- 
isted now ! ” exclaimed Arthur with deep emotion ; 
and I could but add a hearty “ Amen ! ” 

Rose only sighed, as the contrast between such an 
order of things and the present one presented itself 
to her mind. 

“ Do you think that we could do without legal mar- 
riage then ? ” asked Rockman. 

“I should be inclined to think that we could,” was 
the reply. 

He then turned to me with, “ Mrs. Berrian, is not 
that one of your fingerboards ? ” 

“ I must know, uncle, just how you mean to apply 
it, before I answer that question,” I said. 

“ If I remember rightly, you said that Nature’s 
protests are Nature’s prophecies ; does not Nature 
protest against the present order of things, declare 
that it is imperfect by the pain and suffering that are 
irreparable from it ? ” 

“ I understand it so,” I replied, — 

“ And even your reverend husband here acknowl- 
edges that, in the state of society that he wishes ex- 


AS THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. 


319 


isted, he believes we could do without legal marriage ; 
now I want to know if this does not indicate that 
this is one of the steps to be taken in order to bring 
about so desirable a state of things ? ” 

“ If I have stated a principle, Uncle Rockman, 
and you apply it wrongfully, it is not my fault/’ 

“ But will you say that he has made a wrong ap- 
plication ? ” asked Rose. 

“And you too?” I said, shaking my finger at 
her. 

“We will not press her too hardly. Rose ; she 
has too recently assumed the bonds to be willing to 
decide against them ; but one thing is certain. We 
can never have such a state of society so long as the 
law of inheritance as regulated by legal marriage 
exists. 

“ You may think this a strong assertion ; but let 
us suppose a case to illustrate the point in question. 
Here is a man worth one hundred thousand dollars, 
and he has five sons grown to manhood ; and living 
in the same place are ten men who have nothing but 
what they earn from day to day, with perhaps 
enough for funeral expenses ; and these men have 
also five sons apiece. 

“ Well, these men all die ; the rich man’s sons come 
into the possession of twenty thousand dollars each, 
and the poor men’s sons have nothing. The rich 
man’s sons build each of them ten houses, which, 
when finished, are worth, with the lots on which they 
stand, fifteen hundred dollars each, leaving five thoa- 
sand for a residence for themselves. They then lease 
these fifty houses to the fifty sons of the ten poor 


320 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


men, at twelve dollars a month, or one hundred and 
forty-four dollars per year. 

‘‘We will take the forty-four dollars to pay taxes 
and keep up repairs, thus giving each of the sons of 
that rich man one thousand dollars per year out of 
the earnings of the sons of those poor men. Let 
this continue for fifteen years, and each rich man’s 
son has had the repairs kept up, and the taxes paid 
on each one of those houses, and has received beside 
the original cost the fifteen hundred dollars. And 
who owns the houses ? 

“ Do those day-laborers ? No : they have paid for 
them, and paid the taxes on them, have kept them in 
repair all these years ; and yet they have no home of 
their own. Their labor, as expended upon the im- 
provements in the town, has increased the value of 
all the property therein, and those same houses are 
now valued at twenty-five hundred dollars instead 
of fifteen ; so they must pay a higher rate of rent, 
or, with an increasing family, be crowded into a 
smaller space. 

“ Now the sons of that rich man were no better 
as boys, are no better as men, than the sons of the 
poor men ; they have not produced by actual labor 
one dollar in all these years, but have traded upon 
and lived off the labor of others ; they are all equally 
the children of the State : now, where is the justice 
in such a state of things ? 

“ Gan men and women become like the angels under 
such conditions ? The sons of those poor men, by 
the necessary action of such inequality, have been all 
these years the slaves of the sons of that rich man. 


AS TEE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. 


321 


“ But suppose, after the death of the rich man, it 
could have been shown that there was a son living 
by a former marriage, and that he had never legally 
married the mother of those five sons ; then the 
hundred thousand would have gone to the one son, 
the one that the law recognized as legitimate, and 
the others would have had nothing. Does not the 
value of legal marriage rest upon the property basis ? 
Does not each sustain and perpetuate the other? ” 
Do not the poor value legal marriage, make it a 
standard of honor, or the lack of it dishonor, as well 
as the rich ? ” I asked. 

‘‘ They do, Mrs. Berrian ; but even here the rich 
make the standard, and the poor obey it ; and, as in 
other cases, they make the standard in their own 
interest.” 

“ I do no not see how you can make that appear,” 
said Arthur. 

“ Which is it, Mr. Berrian, that stands by the 
illegitimate child, — the father, or the mother? We 
all know which; but why is it? Public sentiment 
curses the mother who will neglect her child, 
but public sentiment does not thus condemn the 
father who does not support his illegal child ; and, 
beside, the mother’s love is by nature stronger than 
that of the father’s. He is held more by the exter- 
nal pressure than by the internal love. Rich men 
know this ; and they throw their influence in favor 
of legal marriage and the public sentiment . that 
makes each man support his own, thus perpetuating 
the property basis for legal marriage. 

‘‘ The poor man’s inheritance, his property, is his 


322 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


bone and muscle, his strength and skill as a laborer ; 
and these are pledged, become the basis of legal 
marriage.” 

It seems to me, Mr. Rockman, that you are get- 
ting into deep water. If it is as you say, what would 
the poor man find to hold him to his labor, if he was 
not held to his family by the law and public senti- 
ment?” 

“ And why should he be held to all the productive 
labor, the rich man trading upon and living off the 
results of that labor, but producing nothing himself? 
There is love enough in the poor man’s heart to cause 
him to stay by the woman he loves, and to look out 
for the happiness of her and her children ; it is the 
extra load against which he rebels, and he has a 
right so to do. The extra load comes from the 
double source of legal marriage, and the law of 
descent that puts money into the hands of the rich 
men’s sons, and thus gives them the power to en- 
slave the sons of the poor.” 

Mr. Rockman, are you not morbid upon this 
subject? Human nature is imperfect, and has much 
to learn as yet ; but what is more beautiful than the 
family relation ? The love of husbands and wives, 
brothers and sistei's, parents and children-, gives us a 
glimpse of heaven upon earth.” 

“ It is not the love that I am speaking of, sir, but 
the law. Love enforced by law gains no added 
charm ; and this question of inheritance often causes 
children to contend over what the parents have left, 
till their love turns to hatred, and they become the 
bitterest of enemies.” 


AS THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. 


323 


“If, with the present restraints that are thrown 
around them, people are so ready to go astray, what 
would they be without law to hold them in check ? 
I can not, for my part, Mr. Kockman, see how your 
theory is going to make things any better.” 

“ It is not my theory, Mr. Berrian : I am a student 
at the feet of Nature and Nature’s God ; and, if in 
my researches I discover that certain causes produce 
certain results, the discovery is mine, but not the law 
discovered ; the truth that I have gathered from 
Nature’s pages belongs to humanity. I have dis- 
covered for myself at least, I do not say that others 
have not seen this before me ; but I find, upon in- 
vestigation of the principles involved, that legal 
marriage and the law of inheritance as it exists in 
society to-day stand directly in the way of the fulfill- 
ment of the request that the will of the Father shall 
be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

“ They can not continue to exist, these two inven- 
tions of man’s device, and we become as the angels in 
heaven ; the first must be swept away before the 
last can take place. The conclusion is as inevitable 
as that two and two make four ; and you and I, sir, 
had as well look this truth in the face first as last. 
Every time that you pray that the will of the Father 
may be done on earth as it is in heaven, you ask 
that love may take the place of, may supersede, law ; 
you ask that the law of hereditary descent may be 
abolished in the narrow sense that it now exists, and 
that the State, the nation, the world, may become one 
great family. 

“ Every time that you pray for the incoming of 


324 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


Christ’s kingdom, you ask for an entire change in 
the present order of society. Christians do this 
everywhere ; and yet when God sends disturbers 
of the peace of society, when he sends those who 
refuse to obey that which it is their work to unsettle, 
to destroy, then comes the wormwood and the gall, 
the nails and the thorns. Well could Jesus say to 
you all as he did to the two disciples who desired to 
sit on his right hand and on his left, — 

‘‘ ‘ Ye know not what you ask.’ ” 

And I feel like saying, as the disciples did when 
Jesus declared it to be ‘ easier for a camel to go 
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to 
enter the kingdom of heaven,’ — who then can be 
saved ? ” 

I had never seen so serious, so troubled a look 
upon Arthur’s face as when he said this ; there 
seemed a shrinking, a holding of the breath, as it 
were, as he contemplated the possibility of the truth 
of the ideas advanced by Rockman. It was as 
though one were walking in a straight, smooth path, 
and a chasm had suddenly yawned beneath his feet. 
I pitied him ; for I knew that he would follow where 
truth led, and I knew also to what a terrible ordeal 
the acceptance of such ideas would subject him. I 
thought not of myself, but only of him ; for, wher- 
ever he went, whatever he might be called upon to 
sacrifice, my place was by his side, and my happiness 
to aid and strengthen his hands in whatever his heart 
and conscience dictated. 

We sat for some moments in silence ; but at length 
I asked, ‘‘Do you recollect, Uncle Rockman, when 


AS THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN, 


325 


we were speaking of Minnie’s work, and you said 
that she was benefiting only herself ? ” 

‘‘ Most assuredly I do, madam,” he replied. 

‘‘ Will you please tell me in what particular sense 
she was benefiting herself ? ” 

‘‘ In the same sense that anyone benefits themselves 
when they are learning lessons of use. The Lord 
of hosts is preparing his instruments for the final 
battle between truth and error, for the great battle 
of Gog and Magog ; and he selects those instruments 
from among all classes. This army of the Lord is 
to march in solid phalanx against all the strongholds 
of error ; but, to do this successfully, the leaders must 
be of those who have had experience in, have been 
subject to, these very conditions.” 

‘‘ Our government has its military schools, where 
young men are educated in the tactics of war ; and, 
when occasion requires, these schools furnish the 
leaders for the nation’s army. God sends those who 
are to be the leaders in his work to school also : he 
takes both men and women, and he sends some to 
brothels, some to saloons, some to theological schools 
of learning, some to schools of science and philoso- 
phy ; some toil with the slave under the lash of the 
master, and some go before the mast on the high 
seas ; some delve in the mine beside the toiling sons 
of hardship, and some spend ye-<.rs at the factory’s 
loom ; some beg in the streets, and some fill a felon’s 
cell. 

‘‘To every class, every condition, the voice of 
prophecy saith, ‘ From among your brethren shall 
the Lord raise up one to whom you shall listen and 


326 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


find deliverance ; and when the day of fierce conflict 
conies, those who have been thus schooled will take 
their respective places as officers, leaders, and those 
who have been the lowest down may hold the most 
responsible positions. Kahab the harlot is then 
counted as is Abraham the faithful, among the 
worthies. Minnie is preparing for such a position, 
and so is friend Berrian here. He obeys the legal 
while remaining in school, has accepted the woman 
that God gave him from the hands of the law ; and 
she is now conforming to society’s demands, recog- 
nizing the law of the State, which says that she shall 
not live with a man without its sanction ; but, when 
the trumpet sounds that calls to action, then both 
will arise and cast aside these bonds, will stand forth 
in the liberty wherewith God had made them free. 
And the one that can wield the heaviest sword, can 
do the greatest execution among the hosts of the 
enemy, can deal the surest blows upon the walls of 
error’s strongholds, such, be it man or woman, and 
coming from the brothel or the pulpit, will take the 
lead, will wear the insignia of command.” 

Do you really look for such a change as will do 
away with legal marriage, and the law that gives to 
children the property belonging to parents, Mr. 
Rockman ? ” asked Arthur. 

“ Do you believe in the bible, Mr. Berrian ? do you 
believe that God answers prayer? do you believe 
that the will of the Father will ever be done on 
earth, as it is in heaven ? do you believe that we can 
have a new earth, a renewed, redeemed one in which 
we can be as the angels ? do you believe that all this 


AS THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. 


327 


can be realized ? and, if so, can the present order of 
things, the present human laws, remain in force ? ” 

“ I know, Mr. Rockman, that they can not,” was 
the firm reply ; and yet it Avas given in a tone that 
indicated a soul-shiver at the possible results of such 
an admission. 

Then, my friend, it only remains to learn how 
this change is to be brought about, and also, if you 
and I are to blow the rams’ horns that are to demol- 
ish the walls of this city of destruction, ere the new 
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, 
can take its place ; or, if we are to remain by the 
stuff, and let others do this work.” 

‘‘ I shall have to be alone with my own soul and 
my God, shall have time to look at this question 
on all sides, before I shall know where my path 
leads,” said Arthur; and, taking the Bible from the 
shelf, he proceeded to lead the evening devotions. 



328 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

THE VALLEY OF DECISION. 

Choose ye this day whom ye will serve: if the Lord be God, 
serve him; if Baal, serve him.” — Bible. 

HE months sped by, till they lengthened 
into years ; and Minnie Morris was a 
welcome guest in homes from the doors 
of which she would once have been 
spurned ; but the work that she had 
once been so active in lagged upon her hands. Of 
the band of sisters who had pledged themselves on 
that memorable night, not one had failed ; but, of 
those in other places who had been gathered from 
the haunts of vice, some had returned thereto, some 
gone to points far West, and married; and the most 
of the others had scattered she knew not where. 

“Why had she grown weary in well doing?” do 
you ask ? She had not ; but she had , learned that 
efforts directed toward saving a particular class, 
while there was no change in the general structure, 
were thrown away. She had learned that there was 
a power at work that would not so permit of the re- 
adjustment of imperfect conditions as to render them 
desirable or permanent ; and she wearied of wasting 
her efforts. 

She had tested her power to face the world, and 
obtain justice so far as she could make them see 




THE VALLEY OF DECISION. 


329 


what justice meant, hut she felt that there was a 
mightier work still to be done, and one in which she 
could not hope for the approval of society. She had 
visited us, and we had discussed these things by the 
hour. Slowly but surely the conviction was forcing 
itself upon us, that the time was coming when we 
should be called upon to decide for or against the 
opinions that were gaining ground among the think- 
ers ; but we waited the hour, bided our time. 

It came at length to Minnie. Mary Bliss, the one 
of the five who had spoken so defiantly when they 
gave the history of Avhat had made them outcasts, 
had a lover from whom she refused to be separated, 
and she would not marry him legally. “ I love him, 
and he loves me ; and that is enough,” she said. 

“ But, if you love each other, why object to mar- 
riage ? ” it was urged by those who desired most sin- 
cerely that nothing should occur to mar “ the good 
work that had been done.” For, betwixt you and 
me, dear reader, after Minnie, aided by Arthur’s ser- 
mon that came in so opportunely, had fought the 
battle and won the victory for herself and those who 
stood with her, the good sisters of the church were 
never weary of pointing to her as an evidence of 
I what might be done, if people would only have 
I . charity for those who tried to reform.” 

These were anxious that Mary should do just the 
right thing ; but to all their urging she would only 
reply, ‘‘If I can not hold a man without the law to 
help me, I do not want him.” 

“ But it is wrong, Mary : God commands marriage.” 

“ I can find no other command than that the man. 


330 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


should cleave unto his wife, which he will be sure to do 
if he loves her, and if he does not there can be no such 
marriage as God sanctions ; and, more than this, I am 
pledged to these my sisters, and I will not take bonds 
upon myself that will give another power over me.” 

“ But you will ruin them, or force them to reject 
you ” was urged still further. 

They will not reject me for being true to myself, 
to my ideas of right ; they are not a set of Pharisees ; 
and, if others forsake them, the fault will be with 
those who dare to sit in judgment upon their acts. 
Were the Jesus whom you pretend to worship here, 
he would not condemn me.” 

‘‘ But his command was, ‘ Go, and sin no more.’ ” 

I am not sinning ; love is the fulfilling of the 
law : so your Bible says. But you do not believe it : 
if you did you would leave me in peace. God made 
me as I am, and he will take care of me ; and it is not 
your business what I do, so long as I do not intrude 
myself upon you.” 

They finally gave her up, and demanded that 
Minnie should do the same. ‘‘ If you permit her to 
remain with you, you sanction her course, and are as 
bad as she is,” so they said. 

But Minnie had carried the day once, and brought 
the public to her terms, and she did not intend to be 
dictated to now ; so she steadily refused their de- 
mands, and for reward was ostracised by the entire 
community. The past was all brought up anew ; those 
who had been her warm friends declared that they 
knew how it would be, that they did not believe that 
any of them had been any better than they should 


THE VALLEY OF DECISION, 


331 


be all this time, that there was no knowing how 
much crime had been carried on underhandedly, &c. 

Finally the excitement ran so high that a mob was 
raised ; the house in which Minnie and Mary resided 
was demolished, and the inmates were driven into 
the streets, while the others were threatened. Minnie 
made no appeal to the law against this outrage, but, 
collecting the girls all together, they held another 
midnight convocation ; and, with the momentary 
expectation of being intruded upon and driven out, 
they renewed their pledges to stand by each other. 

The lover of Mary Bliss, and Eben Rockman, were 
both with them ; and there, with the calm stars shining 
down upon them, they listened for one hour to Rock- 
man as he quoted Bible, and pointed to the coming 
conflict between that which existed now and the 
better order of society which must take its place ; and 
they wrote out a new declaration of independence, 
those twenty, for Rose had gone to them as soon as 
the storm commenced. 

There, in the midnight hour, those twenty women 
wrote out their declaration of independence ; in 
which they asserted their right to their own per- 
sons, subject only to the law of love, repudiating the 
usurped authority of both Church and State, and 
vowing that they would never delegate that right to 
any man. To this declaration they pledged all the 
powers of their being, time, talents, money, strength 
of body and soul, and life itself, if need be ; and then 
sent forth that declaration to the great public. 

“We will test this matter to the utmost,” they 
said; “ we will take Freedom, Love, and Truth as our 


332 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


watchwords ; the law that God has written upon the 
tablet of our hearts, as our guide ; and we will wage an 
eternal war upon all institutions that place the keep- 
ing of woman’s person in the hand of man,^andr4hat 
make men and women of less accountdkan money. 

‘‘We take this position, make th^ declaration, be- 
cause we sincerely believe that we have a right to do 
so under the declaration that all have the right to 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; we also 
believe that the law of the land has no right to inter- 
fere with this our religious conviction of the sacred- 
ness of our own persons, and the sacrilege of any 
attempt to take from us the right of their control. 

“We have counted the cost ; we have come to this 
decision slowly, and, through years of bitter experi- 
ence ; and come life, come death, come then what 
will, we intend to abide by it.” 

The effect of this declaration upon the community 
seemed to confound by its very boldness, and people 
stood as if in amaze ; and, in their confusion as to 
what was best to be done, they did nothing. The 
idea, that a woman should dare to assert that she 
belonged to herself, was so tremendous that it took 
away their breath. 

Rockman and Rose put on their old disguises, and 
passed around among the people till they became 
satisfied that no further violence was intended, for 
the time at least ; and then Rose returned to me, 
bringing a report of what had been done, and copies 
of their declaration. We said nothing ; but the 

news reached B , and the church over which 

Arthur was pastor ; and then those who had been 


THE VALLEY OF DECISION, 


333 


overruled, but were not satisfied with his marriage 
and the course he had then pursued, demanded from 
him a decided condemnation of the course taken by 
Minnie and her friends, or his resignation. 

‘‘ I must think of this a while first, friends,” he 
said in reply. ‘‘ There are many things that were 
once accounted as crimes, that are now considered 
virtues ; and I can not decide hastily. The Scrip- 
tures declare that God will turn and overturn, till he 
shall come whose right is to reign ; and how do I 
know but this is one of his methods of overturning? 
If this thing is not of God, it will come to nought 
without my frown ; and otherwise we can not put it 
down. Permit me to let it alone, for a time at least, 
lest haply I be found fighting against God.” 

But this they would not listen to ; when there was 
evidence of repentance and a better life, it was his 
Christian duty to exercise charity toward them ; but 
now, when they had come out so boldly in their 
wickedness, were defying God and man, having de- 
fended them then, it was his duty to denounce them 
now, or his silence would be construed into approval. 

This aroused the old fire within him, and he coolly 
replied, I shall not speak till I choose ; no one has 
a right to lord it over my conscience. The question 
lies between me and my God, and, when it is decided 
there, I will tell you ; not before.’ 

This did not content them ; and they declared the 
pulpit vacant till his decision was brought in. 

“ And your pulpit would stand for ever vacant, so 
far as I am concerned, if I recognized no higher au- 
thority than yours,” he replied ; ‘‘ but truth demands 


334 


NOTHING LIKE IT. 


my open allegiance ; and when my decision is made, 
when I have had time to look at this matter till I 
can separate truth and error, time to analyze the 
causes which have led to this result, — then you shall 
hear from me : I think I can do this in one month.” 

To this they finally consented, and even went so 
far as to retract their previous decision, and ask him 
to fill the desk till then. Such is the power of a soul 
that, strong in conscious rectitude, refuses to bow 
to the arbitrary demands of ignorance or prejudice. 

My pride had taken umbrage at their treatment, 
and I did not wish him to accept their offer ; but 
his reply was, No, dear wife : if my decision is 
such as I think it must be, we have such a battle to 
fight, that we can not afford to indulge in mere per- 
sonal feelings. 

‘ We must stay in the beautiful valley 
Where love crowns the meek and the lowly,’ — 

Even in the valley of humility, — if we would gather 
the strength that we shall need.’ ” 

But the poet says that, — 

This low vale is far from contention, 

Where no soul can dream of dissension,’ ” — 

I replied. 

We will carry the vale in our hearts, then ; and 
the dews that descend from the mountains of power 
shall refresh and prepare us for whatever we are 
called to pass through,” was his gentle answer. 

That does not sound much like the defiance you 
gave the church, my dear,” I said. 


THE VALLEY OF DECISION, 


335 


“Well, wife, I am only human, and liable to err; 
but, had the church assailed no rights but those of 
Arthur Berrian, I hardly think I should have been 
so unyielding. I fight for truth, freedom, humanity : 
when these are assailed, I have no right to yield.” 

The next month was a trying one ; I watched and 
waited with an anxiety beyond any thing that I had 
ever felt before. Arthur spent much of his time 
alone ; and I knew that he was wrestling with him- 
self, striving for the firmness, the calmness, that an 
abiding faith in the truth can alone give ; so that, if 
truth led him into the valley of the shadow of death 
to his previous ideas of right, he could walk fear- 
lessly wherever she indicated. 

“Wife,” said he to me one day as the month of pro- 
bation drew toward its close, “ it is easy to talk of 
renouncing all for Christ’s sake, — to talk of declaring 
the truth you see, when you know that all men will 
forsake you and flee, but it is no light thing to be 
counted as vile when your motives are pure, and to 
be meek and patient under undeserved reproach.” 

I looked at him with a smile, though my own heart 
sank within me ; for I knew then as well as I do now 
what his decision would be. 

When the month expired he went with firm step 
but pale face into the desk that he knew he should 
never ascend again. The hymn that he announced 
was, — 


“ Jesus, I my cross have taken, 

All to leave and follow thee ; 
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, 
Thou from hence my all shalt be.’* 


336 


NOTHING LIKE IT, 


And then such a petition! it seemed like that of a 
mother who commends her children to God when 
about to leave them for ever ; closing with the Lord’s 
Prayer, and emphasizing the words, Thy will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven ; ” then, taking for his text 
the declaration of Jesus, In that world they neither 
marry nor are given in marriage,” he preached from 
it a discourse that it seemed to me ought to have 
convinced the most obstinate ; closing with the declar- 
ation that he believed love to be the fulfilling of the 
law, and that Minnie Morris had been disciplined to 
do a work that would eventually place her name 
among those who should be accounted worthy of 
honor by coming generations. 

His earnestness, the deep feeling manifested, won 
for him the sympathy of many of his audience ; but 
they regarded his position as erroneous, dangerous 
even, and they dare not sustain him. 

And thus at length they stood, Arthur Berrian 
the minister, side by side with Minnie Morris the so- 
called harlot; he with the woman who loved him, 
and she with her^ score of sisters, each bearing aloft 
the fiag of woman’s full emancipation, and each feel- 
ing, that, with truth to sustain, they, like Elijah of 
old, were individually stronger than the four hundred 
prophets of the Baal of error. 

As for Eben Rockman, he seemed to grow young 
in the joy which this movement gave him ; and his 
prayer was, Now give thy servant strength to live 
and work till the foundation of the walls of the New 
Jerusalem are laid upon the earth.” 

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